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    NASA · ESA · CSA · Space telescope

    James Webb Space Telescope

    The largest space telescope ever launched, observing in infrared with a 6.5 m segmented mirror shaded by a five-layer sunshield the size of a tennis court.

    ActiveConducting science operations since July 2022.

    Launch date

    2021-12-25

    Destination

    Sun–Earth L2 halo orbit (~1.5 million km from Earth)

    Agencies

    NASA, ESA, CSA

    Objectives

    • Observe the first galaxies after the Big Bang
    • Study star and planet formation
    • Characterise exoplanet atmospheres

    Spacecraft

    6.5 m primary mirror of 18 gold-coated beryllium segments; sunshield about 21 × 14 m

    Scientific instruments and systems

    • NIRCam (near-infrared camera)
    • NIRSpec (near-infrared spectrograph)
    • MIRI (mid-infrared instrument)
    • NIRISS and Fine Guidance Sensor

    Timeline

    1. 2021-12-25Launch on Ariane 5 from Kourou, French Guiana
    2. 2022-01-24Arrived at Sun–Earth L2
    3. 2022-07-12First full-colour science images released

    Major achievements

    • Detected galaxies from the first few hundred million years of cosmic history
    • First detection of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere (WASP-39 b)

    Status reviewed 2026-10-23. For official images and the latest updates, visit the agency pages listed under Sources.