Webb unboxed in cleanroom at Europe’s Spaceport

After its arrival at Pariacabo harbour in French Guiana on 12 October 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope was transported to Europe’s Spaceport and unboxed in the cleanroom. It is now being prepared for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket in December. Though the telescope weighs only six tonnes, it is more than 10.5 m high and almost 4.5 m wide when folded. It was shipped in its folded position in a 30 m long container which, with auxiliary equipment, weighed more than 70 tonnes. After arriving in the harbour, the telescope inside its container was towed by a heavy-load tractor unit to the spacecraft processing facility at Europe’s Spaceport. There, Webb’s special shipping container was opened, and the telescope was unboxed inside the facility’s cleanroom and installed on a rollover fixture to raise it vertical. This is how it will stand inside the Ariane 5 fairing. Webb’s launch campaign involves more than 100 specialists. Teams will work separately to prepare the telescope and the launch vehicle unti