Malindi Space Station to play crucial role in relaying signal to NASA's James Webb Space telescope

Malindi Space Station is set to play a crucial role in relaying the first signals to Earth from the James Webb Space Telescope that was launched on Christmas day.

The US$ 9 billion infrared telescope was launched on Saturday morning in South America and it was ferried inside the cargo bay of Ariane 5 rocket.  

The rocket is due to travel on a 1.5 million kilometre mission to space. In space terminology, the first "contact" is described as the only means of sending commands from a specific location and bringing data back to Earth.

After this is set and done, the Malindi station will revert to a "support" role during the mission.