After a detailed analysis of where the James Webb Space Telescope is now (29 December 2021) and how it got there, NASA determined the observatory should have enough propellant to operate in space for significantly more than 10 years in space.
Webb's mission lifetime was designed to be at least 5-1/2 years, and mission engineers and scientists were hoping for closer to 10 years.comes from two factors: the precision of the Ariane 5 launch on December 25, which experts say exceeded the requirements needed to put Webb on the right path.
The first course correction was a 65-minute burn that took place about 12.5 hours after launch. While 65 minutes sounds like a long time, a burn lasting as long as 3 hours could have been required.
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