What Will NASA Say About the James Webb Space Telescope Today at 11:30 am ET?

James Webb Space Telescope
A new report by the GAO warns that additional delays in the James Webb Space Telescope are likely, which could increase its cost above a cap set by Congress several years ago. (Image credit: NASA artist's concept)

. NASA will hold a teleconference today (March 27) to update the media and public on its next great space observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in June 2019.

The teleconference will begin at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT) and you can listen to it live on Space.com here, courtesy of NASA. You can also follow the briefing directly from NASA here. NASA officials did not reveal the exact subject for today's teleconference, but an update on the Webb telescope's launch schedule and cost are expected due to a recent report from the Government Accounting Office warning of the potential for cost overruns and schedule delays

In an announcement, NASA officials said only that the briefing will "provide an update on the agency's James Webb Space Telescope – what will be the world, premier infrared space observatory and the biggest astronomical science telescope ever built." [Building the James Webb Space Telescope: A Photo Tour]

A new report by the GAO warns that additional delays in the James Webb Space Telescope are likely, which could increase its cost above a cap set by Congress several years ago. (Image credit: NASA artist's concept)

Speaking during the briefing will be NASA's acting administrator Robert Lightfoot; Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science missions; and Dennis Andrucyk, deputy associate administrator for science missions. 

NASA's $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in June 2019 on an Ariane 5 rocket and use its infrared eye to peer deep into the history of the universe. The observatory is the successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope, which has observed the universe since 1990.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.