Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

James Webb Space Telescope completes final testing ahead of launch

Georgina Torbet
By

Finally, the big day approaches: The James Webb Space Telescope has completed its final tests and is now being prepared for its journey to its launch site. The next-generation telescope will be the successor to the venerable old Hubble Space Telescope, as well as taking over duties from the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope.

The final round of testing includes a series of tests to ensure that the telescope will operate in space as planned. This is complex for several reasons — firstly, that the technology is cutting-edge and has to survive the extreme conditions of launch, and secondly, that the telescope needs to be folded up to fit into a rocket for launch and then unfurl itself once it is in orbit.

The James Webb telescope fully assembled and folded as it will be for launch.
Fully assembled and fully tested, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has completed its primary testing regimen and is soon preparing for shipment to its launch site at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. In this photo, Webb is folded as it will be for launch. NASA/Chris Gunn

With the tests complete and engineers confident that Webb is ready for launch, it will now be packed up and shipped to its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.

Related

“NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has reached a major turning point on its path toward launch with the completion of final observatory integration and testing,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director in a statement. “We have a tremendously dedicated workforce who brought us to the finish line, and we are very excited to see that Webb is ready for launch and will soon be on that science journey.”

With its more powerful hardware, Webb will be able to collect more data and do new science compared to the older Hubble. For example, it will be able to see whether a distant exoplanet has an atmosphere or not and even what that atmosphere is composed of — something which is very difficult to do with currently available telescopes. The bodies organizing the launch of Webb, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), have already laid out plans for what Webb will study in its first year.

For the team who have worked on Webb so far, the launch date, which is set for late November or early December this year, will be a major milestone both personally and professionally. “To me, launching Webb will be a significant life event – I’ll be elated of course when this is successful, but it will also be a time of deep personal introspection. Twenty years of my life will all come down to that moment,” said Mark Voyton, Webb observatory integration and test manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

“We’ve come a long way and worked through so much together to prepare our observatory for flight. The telescope’s journey is only just beginning, but for those of us on the ground who built it, our time will soon come to an end, and we will have our opportunity to rest, knowing we put everything on the line to make sure our observatory works. The bonds we formed with each other along the way will last far into the future.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Watch this Earth rise as seen from the Orion spacecraft
watch earth rise from the orion spacecraft
After lunar flyby, Orion snaps incredible ‘Earthset’ image
Earth, the moon, and the Orion spacecraft.
How to watch SpaceX launch a resupply mission to ISS on Tuesday
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the company’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station.
Hubble Space Telescope captures the earliest stage of star formation
A small, dense cloud of gas and dust called CB 130-3 blots out the center of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. CB 130-3 is an object known as a dense core, a compact agglomeration of gas and dust. This particular dense core is in the constellation Serpens and seems to billow across a field of background stars.
NASA needs good weather for Artemis launch, here’s how it’s looking
NASA's SLS rocket on its way to the launchpad.
How to watch tonight’s launch of NASA’s mega moon rocket
NASA's SLS rocket at the Kennedy Space Center.
NASA spacewalk video features a stunning view of Earth
A view of Earth from an astronaut's helmet camera during a spacewalk at the ISS.
NASA’s historic Artemis I mission finally underway with SLS rocket launch
NASA's SLS rocket launching at the start of the Artemis I mission.
NASA’s moon spacecraft beams back first images of Earth
Orion's first image of Earth.
NASA inks deal with SpaceX for second crewed lunar landing
Artist concept of the SpaceX Starship on the surface of the Moon.
How to watch the spectacular Leonid meteor shower tonight
how to photograph perseid meteor shower streak in the night sky
Watch NASA’s cinematic animation of upcoming Mars Sample Return mission
Animation screen grab showing NASA's upcoming Mars Sample Return mission.
Orion spacecraft is looking good for its mission to the moon
On the second day of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission, Orion used its optical navigation camera to snap black and white photos of planet Earth. Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness as a method for determining its position in space for future missions under differing lighting conditions.