Sharjah24 – Reuters: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary $9 billion instrument able to peer more deeply into the cosmos than ever, was due for launch early Saturday from South America's northeastern coast, opening a highly anticipated new era of astronomical exploration.

The powerful infrared telescope, hailed by NASA as the premiere space-science observatory of the next decade, was packed inside the cargo bay of an Ariane 5 rocket poised for blastoff at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT) from the European Space Agency's (ESA) launch base in French Guiana.

If all goes according to plan, the 14,000-pound instrument will be released from the French-built rocket after a 26-minute ride into space.