The James Webb Space Telescope \u2014 a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) \u2014 has successfully completed a critical pre-flight milestone and test that paves the way for continued final testing of the most complex telescope ever built.<\/p>\n
At present, James Webb remains on track for a launch from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket No Earlier Than 31 October 2021.<\/p>\n
The three-way partnership between NASA, ESA, and CSA, follows large-scale, international partnerships for space-based telescopes of the past and results in sharing of the financial output as well as economic and scientific benefits the mission offers.<\/p>\n
For the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), ESA\u2019s primary contribution from a monetary standpoint to the mission was procurement of the launch vehicle, in this case the ESA-built and Arianespace operated Ariane 5 rocket.<\/p>\n
This type of monetary service in relation to providing a launch vehicle is a fairly standard interagency operating procedure; the last time such an agreement occurred was between ESA and NASA for the Solar Orbiter mission in February 2020, to which NASA was a partner and bought the launch vehicle: an Atlas V 411 from United Launch Alliance.<\/p>\n
In addition to the launch vehicle, ESA is also providing monetary support for the NIRSpec instrument, funding for the Optical Bench Assembly of the MIRI instrument, as well as staff to the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, to help carry out the mission once the telescope is launched.<\/p>\n
The other major international partner is the Canadian Space Agency, which has provided the Fine Guidance Sensor, which will be used to point and focus the telescope on observational targets, and the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph for the study of exoplanets and distant galaxies. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n