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During its decade or more in orbit, Webb will be used by teams of astronomers to study a wide variety of celestial phenomena, from exoplanets to black holes.

The infrared observatory launched on Christmas Day last year, taking off from the European Space Agency spaceport in French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket.

Among the first projects for the James Webb space telescope will be a study of 11 'super-Earths', that is planets that sit somewhere between Earth and Neptune in size. A type not found in the solar system.

Until now, communications with the telescope - now positioned at its L2 point home - had all been via its medium-gain antenna, using the microwave 'S-band' of frequencies between 2-4 GHz.

After reaching its orbit, at the second Lagrange point (L2), an area of balance between gravitational forces of the Earth and the sun, NASA revealed its first target.