Largest infrared space telescope

ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory was launched on 14 May 2009 by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana. It measures 7.5 m by 4 m with a mass on launch of 3,400 kg. Its 3.5-m mirror is the largest ever sent into space. From its location at the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system, around 1.5 million km from Earth, it has performed observations at far infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. Its spectral range allows Herschel to see through dust clouds which obscure galactic centres and star-forming regions. Herschel is expected to run out of coolant in around March 2013.