JWST
The largest space telescope ever launched, a 6.5-metre mirror of 18 gold-coated beryllium segments that unfolded in space after launch. A five-layer sunshield the size of a tennis court keeps its optics below minus 230 °C, cold enough to observe in the infrared from its orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point, 1.5 million km from Earth. Launched on an Ariane 5 in December 2021, it studies the first galaxies and the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Key figures
- Builder
- Northrop Grumman
- Status
- In service
- First flight
- 2021
- Span
- 21.2 m