2018 turns into 2019 for Webb Space Telescope (and maybe Boeing’s space taxi)

NASA says it’s moving the launch date for its $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope from October 2018 to the spring of 2019, citing a longer-than-expected process of integrating elements of the house-sized spacecraft. The latest delay for the oft-postponed launch was announced on Thursday after a routine schedule assessment. Launch is now set for sometime between March and June 2019 from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, atop a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket. Also this week, Space News reported that the first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner space taxi to the International Space Station could slip from late 2018 to early 2019.

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