Hubble Space Telescope longer wavelengths than Hubble or JWST, was the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, launched on May 14, 2009. Like JWST, Herschel was not designed to be serviced after launch, and had a mirror substantially larger than Hubble's, but observed only in the far infrared and submillimeter. It needed helium coolant, of which it ran out on April 29, 2013. Further concepts for advanced 21st-century space telescopes include the Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope, a conceptualized optical space telescope that if realized could be a more direct successor to HST, with the ability to observe and photograph astronomical objects in
James Webb Space Telescope commissioning phase. An L2 orbit is only meta-stable so it requires orbital station-keeping or an object will drift away from this orbital configuration. The desire for a large infrared space telescope traces back decades; in the United States the "Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility" was planned while the Space Shuttle was in development and the potential for infrared astronomy was acknowledged at that time. Compared to ground telescopes, space observatories were free from atmospheric absorption of infrared light; this would be a whole "new sky" for astronomers. However, infrared telescopes have a disadvantagethey need to stay extremely cold and the longer