Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
12:20:00
Saturday December 25, 2021
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Official Livestream
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Flight VA256. The launch is funded by ESA in exchange for science time on the telescope from NASA.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope developed in collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency that will be the scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The JWST will offer unprecedented resolution and sensitivity and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology. One of its major goals is observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies. These types of targets are beyond the reach of current ground and space-based instruments. Other goals include understanding the formation of stars and planets, and direct imaging of exoplanets and novas.
Highly Elliptical Orbit
1 Payload
6,161 kilograms
Manufacturer
ESAPrice
$200.00 million
Rocket
Diameter: 5.4m
Height: 53m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 21,000 kg
GTO: 10,500 kg
Liftoff Thrust
15,120 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 5.4m
Height: 17m
Stages
2
Strap-ons
2
112th
Mission
3rd
Mission of 2021
289th
Mission
7th
Mission of 2021
138th
Orbital launch attempt