James Webb Space Telescope

Since 2019, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project, one of the agency’s most complex science missions, has made considerable progress toward launch—now planned for October 2021—by resolving technical issues, but some schedule and cost challenges remain. For example, in March 2021, NASA officials reported that launch vehicle anomalies that the project’s international partners need to resolve will likely lead to a further delay to the launch date. The project has also used schedule reserves—extra time set aside to accommodate unforeseen risks or delays—faster than expected to address issues such as repairing and strengthening the sunshield. As a result, the project has less schedule reserve than planned to complete remaining activities. The project is also completing redesigns for key parts of the observatory, including actuators, which help unfurl the sunshield. Further, the project continues to address technical problems that could affect the project’s ability to meet cost commitments if the contractor workforce is needed longer than planned.