Math & science · 2021

James Webb Space Telescope

A 6.5 m infrared telescope sees the first galaxies and probes exoplanet atmospheres.

Launched on 25 December 2021 to the L2 point, it found unexpectedly bright early galaxies and detected carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere in 2022.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Exoplanets around Sun-like stars 1995
Hubble Space Telescope 1990

What it led to 1

Biosignature on an exoplanet ~2042

Watch

James Webb Space Telescope Launch — Official NASA BroadcastNASA · YouTube Highlights: First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope (Official NASA Video)NASA · YouTube

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Objects launched into space Latest: 4.51k per year (2025) Source: Our World in Data