ESA Science & Technology - JWST
Fact Sheet
Inspired by the success of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency have collaborated since 1996 on the design and construction of a scientifically worthy successor. Due to be launched in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is expected to have as profound and far-reaching an impact on astrophysics as did its famous predecessor.
News
News
New launch date for James Webb Space Telescope
28 June 2018After completion of an independent review, a new launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope has been announced: 30 March 2021.
Spacecraft Testing
Spacecraft Testing
#14: Tests, moving to a new home, and more tests
4 June 2018In the last year, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and in particular the telescope and the instruments have passed some key milestones on their road towards launch, now planned for 2020.
#13: Testing the coolest instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope
18 October 2017As the James Webb Space Telescope progresses toward launch, the telescope and its scientific instruments are undergoing an arduous series of checks to ensure their flight readiness.
From Our Partners
From Our Partners
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope clears critical sunshield deployment testing
21 October 2019
The sunshield for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has passed a test critical to preparing the observatory for its 2021 launch. Technicians and engineers fully deployed and tensioned each of the sunshield's five layers, successfully putting the sunshield into the same position it will be in a million miles from Earth.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has been assembled for the first time
28 August 2019
Reaching a major milestone, engineers have successfully connected the two halves of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope for the first time at Northrop Grumman's facilities in Redondo Beach, California.
Critical Deployment of NASA Webb’s Secondary Mirror a Success
12 August 2019Technicians and engineers recently tested a key part of this choreography by successfully commanding Webb to deploy the support structure that holds its secondary mirror in place. This is a critical milestone in preparing the observatory for its journey to orbit. The next time this will occur will be when Webb is in space, and on its way to gaze...
NASA's Webb sunshield undergoes rocket fitting, more testing
12 June 2019NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's spacecraft element, which consists of the observatory's spacecraft bus and the sunshield, was put in the same folded-up configuration that it will be in when mounted on atop a rocket for launch in 2021.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope emerges successfully from final thermal vacuum test
30 May 2019NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has successfully cleared another critical testing milestone, taking this ambitious observatory one step closer to its 2021 launch. The spacecraft has gone through its final thermal vacuum test meant to ensure that its hardware will function electronically in the vacuum of space, and withstand the extreme...
