James Webb Space Telescope Forever Stamps

Value: 78¢ First-Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: September 8, 2022
First Day City: Washington, DC
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset, Microprint
Format: Panes of 20

This stamp honors the historic launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on December 25, 2021. The design features an artist’s rendering of the telescope set against a vibrant star-filled background, symbolizing a new era of astronomical discovery.

The First Day of Issue ceremony was held at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, celebrating one of humanity’s most advanced scientific instruments.

Named after former NASA Administrator James E. Webb, the JWST is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built. Designed to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope, it offers higher resolution, advanced imaging capabilities, and the ability to observe in lower-frequency infrared light. Its massive sunshield allows the telescope to maintain the ultra-cold temperatures necessary for its sensitive instruments to function.

Operating from an orbit around the Sun roughly 930,000 miles from Earth, JWST is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the universe — from the formation of the earliest galaxies to the atmospheres of distant exoplanets.

Originally planned for launch in 2007, the telescope’s deployment was delayed by technical challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic, making its successful launch and flawless deployment on Christmas Day 2021 an extraordinary triumph for science, engineering, and international collaboration.