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EADS Astrium Builds Super-Eye for JWST Space Telescope

* NIRSpec can simultaneously observe 100 galaxies
* Maximum sensitivity at –238°C
* JWST is the Hubble successor, scheduled for launch in 2011

Friedrichshafen/Ottobrunn, 09 August 2004

EADS Astrium GmbH is to build the NIRSpec super-eye for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded the €69million contract to EADS SPACE’s satellite specialists. The 200kg spectrograph is able to detect the faintest radiation from the most distant galaxies and can observe more than 100 objects simultaneously. In order to do this, the instrument must be able to operate at a temperature of -238°C. EADS Astrium will develop and build the instrument at its Friedrichshafen and Ottobrunn facilities and is to complete the instrument, in a flight-ready configuration, by spring 2009. The launch of the JWST telescope is scheduled for mid-2011 on board an Ariane 5 launcher.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to Hubble (launched in 1990), which is currently operational in space, providing spectacular results and images from the earliest phases of our universe. In fact EADS Astrium’s predecessor companies supplied Hubble’s Faint Object Camera (FOC), which operated perfectly on board Hubble until 1997 – the only remaining first-generation instrument.

The "final" size of the new universal telescope, covering the visible to mid-infrared range, greatly exceeds the loading dimensions of all existing launchers. The telescope with its 6.6 metre, three-segment primary mirror and a tennis-court-sized sunshield will therefore only be deployed in orbit.

In order to examine the history of the origins of our universe, JWST is equipped with three instruments: a Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCAM) developed by NASA; a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) – a collaborative project between U.S. and European institutes with project management support provided by EADS Astrium Ltd. in Stevenage (U.K.); and the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec).

JWST is a collaborative project being carried out by the U.S., Canadian and European space agencies.

EADS Astrium is Europe's leading satellite specialist. Its activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and Earth observation systems, science and navigation programmes, and all spacecraft avionics and equipment. EADS Astrium is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS SPACE, which is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems. In 2003, EADS SPACE had a turnover of more than 2.4 billion euros and about 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of 30.1 billion euros and employed a workforce of more than 100,000.

Press contact:
Rémi ROLAND
EADS SPACE (FR)
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 34 88 35 78

Alistair SCOTT
EADS SPACE (UK)
Tel.: +44 (0) 1438 77 3698

Mathias PIKELJ
EADS SPACE (GER)
Tel.: +49 (0) 7545 8 91 23