[zeestephen]

It will be put in a Lagrangian point orbit called “L2,” which is about 1 million miles from Earth

I think there are 5 total Earth-Sun Lagrangian points.

L2 is a point in space where the gravitational pull from the Earth and Sun combine to keep a satellite almost in exactly the same place.

The satellite actually orbits the L2 point.

But the result is that it tracks the Earth almost exactly as they both orbit the Sun.

The satellite will have its “back” to the sun, Earth and Moon with a huge amount insulation between.

Even the sun light reflected off the Earth and Moon has enough “heat” to disable the telescope, which must be chilled close to absolute zero, as I recall.

[lagrange point1]

There are 5 Lagrange points in the sun-earth orbital dynamics. L2 has the earth between the telescope and the sun. L2 is semi-stable (in 2 dimensions) and a minimum of fuel will be needed for positional adjustments, but it is too far for any repair missions, even if we still had shuttles.

Only L4 and L5 are stable in three dimensions.