A Christmas Day launch to a point a million miles away
Open mission
The James Webb Space Telescope launched on an Ariane 5 from French Guiana on 25 December 2021 and travelled to the Sun-Earth L2 point, about a million miles from Earth. Its tennis-court-sized sunshield and 18-segment gold mirror unfolded on the way, and its first science images were released in July 2022.
4 video perspectives
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5:08
An Ariane 5 (flight VA256) launched the James Webb Space Telescope from ELA 3 at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou on 25 December 2021 at 12:20 UTC.
Published 25 Dec 2021
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15:56
A documentary on the James Webb Space Telescope, from its troubled development to its Ariane 5 launch on Christmas Day 2021 and the 29 days of deployment with 344 single-point failures.
Published 2 Nov 2026
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10:18
An explainer on why the James Webb Space Telescope had to travel folded and then become an aligned, cooled, tested observatory.
Published 3 Nov 2026
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10:01
The James Webb Space Telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 from French Guiana on Christmas Day 2021 and then unfolded itself on its way to a point nearly a million miles from Earth.
Published 3 Nov 2026