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JWST Launch: Last View of the Telescope

View of the metallic bottom of the folded James Webb Space Telescope at top left with Earth in the background at top right.

The James Webb Space Telescope is now safely in space.

  • Release Date
    December 25, 2021
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Telescope Launches to See First Galaxies, Distant Worlds
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA

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Related Images & Videos

A rocket with two boosters appears very distant in the sky toward the top. The rocket pierces thick clouds, which appear orange where its boosters have recently ignited fuel. That ignition forms a bright orange triangle, which fades to shades of gray, or clouds of exhaust, at the bottom.

Ariane 5 Rocket Launch of the JWST Mission

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched Dec. 25 at 7:20 a.m. EST on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Webb, a partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, will explore every...

View of the bottom of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, with one solar panel extended to the bottom left. Earth, seen in a washed-out white, is at top right.

JWST with Solar Panel Deployed

JWST with its solar panel deployed, shortly after release from the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

Photo of Ariane 5 rocket carrying Webb telescope launching into a cloudy sky.

James Webb Space Telescope Launch Highlights

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST on December 25, 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America. A camera fixed on the launch vehicle’s upper stage captured Webb’s separation from the launch vehicle at 7:47 a.m. EST....

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Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA

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