Another day, another space telescope story. But this time, there’s British involvement.

Space observatories Planck and Herschel will today launch on a European Ariane 5 rocket. The two facilities will view the universe in far infrared (Herschel) and microwave (Planck), giving us new data about galaxy formation and the nature of the early universe. These are both major programmes for the European Space Agency. Herschel alone has the biggest mirror ever launched into space (with the possible exception of classified military missions, but best not talk about them).

One of the major instruments on Herschel was largely developed at Imperial College, under PI Dave Clements. The Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) will allow scientists to peer through interstellar dust clouds and image objects close to absolute zero. To detect faint infrared raditation, the instruments must be protected from the sun with a large shield and cooled below 2K using cryogenic helium. Because the supply is finite, the telescope will have a limited lifetime estimated at three years. During that period, scientists around the world will be alloted time on the instrument. Imperial researchers are helping coordinate this process and have also written software for the telescope.

Planck will study anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation, measuring the ‘afterglow of creation’ with greater precision than ever before. This mission should last two years, allowing two complete surveys of the sky. Imperial College are also involved with the instrumentation and data collection for Planck. Main man and Nature Networker Andrew Jaffe is over in French Guyana, blogging and tweeting the launch preparations.

It’s a risky strategy for ESA – putting both their golden eggs in one basket. This cosmic cab-sharing is advantageous because both observatories need to get to the same place: the Lagrange 2 point, where the gravitational attraction of the Earth and the Sun are equal. If all goes well, we can expect the first results early next year.

You can watch the launch at 2.12 (BST) here.