The European Space Agency launches two powerful new flagship telescopes on Thursday to study space and time in more detail than in the past and give scientists a better and clearer window on the universe.  

The Ariane 5 launcher is to send the two observatories, Herschel and Planck, out to a position some 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, giving the astronomical instruments an ideal station from which to view the universe.

The Herschel and Planck launch comes during the International Year of Astronomy, a busy year for ESA, and is worth some 1.9 billion euros ($2.6 billion).

In addition to the two observatories, ESA is also set to launch three satellites this year that will acquire key data about ice, gravity and soils on Earth.