The most ambitious, costly robot probe ever built, the $10bn James Webb telescope, has been blasted into space on top of a giant European rocket.
The James Webb telescope began its journey into space at exactly 12.20 GMT when the solid fuel boosters of its huge Ariane 5 launcher were ignited. On top of a fiery plume of thick smoke, the rocket rose above the tropical rainforest that surrounds the Esa centre in Kourou, French Guiana, and within a minute had disappeared into the thick clouds overhead.
