PBS video about three upcoming next generation telescopes

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), is a part of NASA's ongoing Flagship program. It is under construction and scheduled to launch in October 2018. The JWST will offer unprecedented resolution and sensitivity from long-wavelength (orange-red) visible light, through near-infrared to the mid-infrared (0.6 to 27 micrometers). While Hubble has a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, the JWST features a larger and segmented 6.5-meter-diameter (21 ft 4 in) primary mirror and will be located near the Earth–Sun L2 point. A large sunshield will keep its mirror and four science instruments below 50 K (-220 °C; -370 °F).

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The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is a ground-based extremely large telescope under construction, planned for completion in 2025.[6] It will consist of seven 8.4 m (27.6 ft) diameter primary segments,[7] with the resolving power of a 24.5 m (80.4 ft) primary mirror and collecting area equivalent to a 22.0 m (72.2 ft) one,[8] which is about 368 square meters.[5] The telescope is expected to have the resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope, and will be the largest optical observatory in the world, at the time of its first light.

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The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a wide-field survey reflecting telescope with an 8.4-meter primary mirror,[10][11] currently under construction, that will photograph the entire available sky every few nights.[12] The telescope uses a novel 3-mirror design which delivers sharp images over a very wide 3.5-degree diameter field of view, feeding a 3.2-gigapixel CCD imaging camera, the largest digital camera ever constructed.

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