After nearly two and a half decades of planning and work, NASA is finally set to launch its next-generation space observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, this morning. The spacecraft will ride to space on top of a European Ariane 5 rocket, taking off out of Europe’s primary launch site in French Guiana, South America.
The launch is expected to last just 26 minutes to get JWST to space. Once it’s free of the rocket, JWST will then spend the next month traveling to its final destination roughly 1 million miles from Earth and slowly unfurling to reach its final form for probing the cosmos.
Here’s what you need to know to watch today’s launch.
How do I watch the launch?
NASA plans to livestream today’s launch on its dedicated channel, NASA TV, with coverage starting at 6AM ET. You can watch the feed on NASA’s website or on YouTube. NASA is also providing a clean feed of the launch without commentary.
What time is the launch?
Arianespace has a launch window that begins at 7:20AM ET and ends at 7:52AM ET. The launch provider will strive to launch at the beginning of the window.
Scheduled launch time: New York: 7:20AM / San Francisco: 4:20AM / London: 12:20PM / Berlin: 1:20PM / Moscow: 3:20PM / New Delhi: 5:50PM / Beijing: 8:20PM / Tokyo: 9:20PM / Melbourne: 11:20PM