London ( CNN ) If you 're hunting for the earliest galaxies and clues about potential life on other planets you are going to need a very big mirror and a golf ball of gold . They are both necessary for the construction of The James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) , intended as the successor to the Hubble instrument that has been operating in space for 25 years . It 's going to be a tough act to follow . Hubble has returned spectacular images during the past quarter century but also helped scientists discover that almost every galaxy has a massive black hole at its heart and that the expansion of the universe is speeding up . But there are limits to how far it can see . Now scientists are working on an alternative way to peer into the past and search space for signs of life with JWST -- scheduled to launch in October 2018 on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana . NASA spokesperson Lynn Chandler told CNN that the mission was like opening up the curtains on the universe and peering inside . `` Hubble rewrote the text books and we 're planning to rewrite the text books again , '' she said . `` JWST will answer the questions which at the moment we ca n't think to ask . '' The Webb telescope is a big probe . Hubble is about the size of a school bus but JWST is as big as a tennis court . There is n't a rocket currently capable of carrying that so as Chandler explained : `` It has to be folded up like a flower and then unfurled like a transformer . '' Named after James E. Webb , a former NASA leader , JWST is being designed to study the first stars and galaxies that formed in the early universe . NASA says that to see these objects the telescope will have to detect objects which are 10 to 100 times fainter than Hubble can currently see . Instead of studying visible and ultraviolet light like Hubble , the JWST will work in the infra-red spectrum , allowing scientists to detect more distant targets . The new telescope requires a huge mirror of 25 square meters ( about 270 square feet ) -- and a golf ball of gold ( about 48 grams or 1.7 ounces ) to optimize it for infra-red light . It is then coated with glass . But technology like this does n't come cheap . According to NASA , the mission , which is in collaboration with the European Space Agency ( ESA ) and the Canadian Space Agency ( CSA ) and involves a total of 14 countries , will cost $ 8.5 billion . NASA says that the project has four main goals -- namely , to search for the first galaxies formed after the Big Bang , find out how galaxies evolved , observe the birth of stars and planets and investigate the potential for life on other planets . Scientists hope the telescope will be able to tell us more about objects that formed 13 billion years ago -- about 700-800 million years after the Big Bang . But closer to home , scientists also believe the new telescope will able to detect planets around nearby stars . NASA says JWST should be able to operate for between five and 10 years , restricted only by the amount of fuel it has to maintain orbit and the ability of the electronics to stand up to the harsh space environment . Opinion : Why astronomy counts on Earth .
Hubble has helped make major discoveries but there are limits to how far it can see into space . The James Webb Space Telescope will work in the infra-red and be able to see objects that formed 13 billion years ago . Comment: