Arianespace signed a contract to launch the Herschel and Planck scientific spacecraft in late 2007 or early 2008, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced Dec. 15.

The spacecraft, with a total launch weight of 5.3 tons, will be lofted into a transfer orbit by the Ariane 5 ECA. From there, Herschel and Plank will make their way toward an orbit around the second Lagrangian point located about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

Herschel will study the birth of galaxies and stars, while Planck is intended to look at the very early history of the universe.