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The most complex telescope ever made has finally launched into space after almost 30 years of planning.

At 12:20pm on Christmas Day, the $10billion spacecraft took off from French Guiana.

Twenty-seven minutes after take-off the top part of the Ariana 5 rocket containing the six-tonne spacecraft separated from the main body of the rocket and a video feed from the now redundant rocket captured the moment the telescope's solar panel array unfurled and began operating.

These solar panels will power the telescope for the duration of its ten year lifespan and the engineers at the mission control centre erupted into applause and cheers.

Commentators on the Nasa live stream said: "It was a perfect ride to orbit and all of the separation sequence events are running in good fashion."

It will take a month before it reaches its final destination one million miles away from Earth.

Read more here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/24/scientists-sweat-christmas-day-launch-10bn-space-telescope-decades/

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