NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday (December 25, 2021) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.
The Webb observatory is NASA’s revolutionary flagship mission to seek light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore our own solar system, as well as planets orbiting other stars, known as exoplanets. It is a joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
“The James Webb Space Telescope represents the ambition that NASA and our partners maintain to propel us forward into the future,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover; it’s what we don’t yet understand or can’t yet fathom about our universe. I can’t wait to see what it uncovers!”
About five minutes after launch, ground teams began receiving telemetry data from Webb. The Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket flew as planned, detaching from the observatory 27 minutes after takeoff. The observatory was launched at a height of about 75 miles (120 kilometers).
Webb’s solar array was unfolded around 30 minutes after launch, and mission officials confirmed that the solar array was generating electricity to the observatory. Mission operators will establish a communications link with the observatory via the Malindi ground station in Kenya after the solar arrays are deployed, and ground control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore will send the spacecraft its first commands.
Approximately 12 hours and 30 minutes after launch, engineers and ground controllers will undertake the first of three mid-course correction burns, firing Webb’s thrusters to steer the spacecraft on an ideal trajectory toward its destination in orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.
The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment this is just the beginning for the Webb mission. Now we will watch Webb’s highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.
Gregory L. Robinson
“I want to congratulate the team on this incredible achievement Webb’s launch marks a significant moment not only for NASA, but for thousands of people worldwide who dedicated their time and talent to this mission over the years,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“Webb’s scientific promise is now closer than it ever has been. We are poised on the edge of a truly exciting time of discovery, of things we’ve never before seen or imagined.”
The world’s largest and most complex space research observatory will now start a six-month commissioning process in space. Webb will produce its first photographs at the conclusion of the commissioning process. Webb has four cutting-edge research instruments on board, including highly sensitive infrared detectors with exceptional resolution.
Webb will investigate infrared light from celestial objects in unprecedented detail. The flagship project is a scientific successor to NASA’s famed Hubble and Spitzer space observatories, designed to complement and advance the scientific discoveries made by these and other missions.
“The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment this is just the beginning for the Webb mission,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director at NASA Headquarters.
“Now we will watch Webb’s highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.”
The telescope’s ground-breaking technology will delve into every phase of cosmic history, from our own solar system to the farthest detectable galaxies in the early cosmos, and everything in between. Webb will make fresh and unexpected findings that will aid humanity in understanding the universe’s beginnings and our place within it.
The mission is overseen by NASA Headquarters, which is part of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. Webb is managed for NASA by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which also supervises work on the mission by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners.
Several NASA centers, including the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, all contributed to the project.
