The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been lifted into orbit atop the rocket that will carry it there.
The $10-billion successor to the iconic Hubble telescope was hoisted into place by a crane and guided into place by guide lasers.
Webb is the most costly space scientific endeavor in history, BBC said.
Its massive mirror and ultra-sensitive equipment will attempt to detect the earliest stars in the Universe, which began to glow more than 13.5 billion years ago.
It will also conduct research into the atmospheres of distant planets in the search for indications of life.
James Webb Space Telescope Placed On Top Of Ariane 5 Rocket in French Guiana
According to SpaceFlightNow, ground personnel working inside French Guiana's Batiment d'Assemblage Final (BAF) carefully observed the assembly of the three-story-tall Webb telescope. The same report said that a crane hoisted roughly 130 feet (40 meters) above the floor.
The crane moved Webb to a position immediately above the Ariane 5 stacked on its moveable launch platform in a lateral maneuver.
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Around the area where Webb was put into the Ariane 5 rocket, teams built a "shower curtain" about 12 meters by 8 meters (40 feet tall and 26 feet long). The enclosed chamber was created to safeguard the observatory before it was encapsulated into the Swiss-made nose cone of the Ariane 5.
Why does The Optical Instrument look Like A Hexagon Full of Gold
The world's biggest space telescope has unique needs to keep its sensitive gold-plated optics, fragile sunshield, and other components free of contamination.
According to a NASA statement, the honeycomb mirror segments are structured that way, so components can fit together to allow the primary mirror, which is made up of all of the sections, to be a roughly circular shape.
Webb's mirror uses actuators to work in addition to its design, which allows it to gather up light from a great distance. Actuators are little mechanical motors that assist the mirror in focusing on distant objects.
The mission crew can fine-tune Webb's perspective using six actuators on the back of each mirror component, which can move each piece of the mirror in microscopic quantities exceptionally slowly.
Webb's most distinguishing characteristic, other than its hexagonal form and vast size, is the gleaming, dazzling gold hue of its mirror. Its look is so stunning that NASA organized an art competition for public contributions of artwork inspired by the space telescope.
Space.com said gold is incredibly reflective, as seen by its sparkling look. Webb's mirrors are considered 98 percent reflective, which means they reflect 98 percent of incoming photons. The color has a tough topcoat as well.
While Webb's mirror pieces are now gold-plated, they are not solid gold. They are made of beryllium, which is a strong but lightweight metal. On Earth, each mirror weighs roughly 46 pounds (20 kilograms).
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