ESA Science & Technology - Detail of Webb sunshield

Close-up view of the sunshield of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Each layer of the Kapton sunshield is uniquely sized, shaped, and has special rip-stop patterning to add durability to the membranes that are as thin as a human hair.

The James Webb Space Telescope is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. As part of its contribution to the project, ESA provides the NIRSpec instrument, the Optical Bench Assembly of the MIRI instrument, the Ariane 5 launcher, and staff to support mission operations at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, USA.