James Webb Space Telescope orbit as seen from above the Sun's north pole and as seen from Earth's perspective.
<p>The James Webb Space Telescope will not be in orbit around the Earth, like the Hubble Space Telescope is - it will actually orbit the Sun, 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2. What is special about this orbit is that it lets the telescope stay in line with the Earth as it moves around the Sun. This allows the satellite's large sunshield to protect the telescope from the light and heat of the Sun and Earth (and Moon).
</p><p>This animation has no sound and is not to scale.
</p><p>Individual Credits:
</p>
<ul><li>Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Lead Producer</li>
<li>Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support</li>
<li>Josh Masters (Freelance): Lead Animator</li></ul>
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
2021-04-12
<bdo lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:YouTube_files" title="Commons:YouTube files">YouTube</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cUe4oMk69E"><bdi lang="">Animation: The James Webb Space Telescope's Orbit</bdi></a> – View/save archived versions on <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cUe4oMk69E">archive.org</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cUe4oMk69E">archive.today</a></bdo>; see also <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13553">https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13553</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/orbit.html">https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/orbit.html</a>