The James Webb Space Telescope will be 100 times more potent than Hubble, and will launch in 2018 on a mission to give astronomers an unprecedented glimpse at the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.

"JWST will be able to see back to about 200 million years after the Big Bang," NASA said on its website.

The project has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers for its ballooning costs -- now at about $8.8 billion, far higher than the initial estimate of $3.5 billion.

But NASA has promised to keep the next-generation telescope on track for its October 2018 launch.

According to NDTV the space telescope will weigh 6.4 tons. JWST's main mirror will be 6.5 meters (yards) in diameter, three times as large as Hubble's.

A joint project of NASA, the European and canadian space agencies, JWST will carry four instruments, including cameras and spectrometers that can capture extremely faint signals.

-NDTV