Announced by the USPS on May 3rd:
Celebrate NASA’s remarkable James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most complex telescope ever deployed in space—capable of peering directly into the early cosmos and studying every phase of cosmic history. Launched on Dec. 25, 2021, Webb now orbits the Sun about a million miles away from Earth.
The image on the stamp is an artist’s digitally created depiction of the telescope against a dazzling starscape. The selvage photograph of a star and distant space was taken by Webb early in its mission, brilliantly confirming the perfect alignment of the telescope’s 18 mirror segments.
Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp using existing art by James Vaughan and an image provided by NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute.
Additional information will be posted below the line, with the most recent info near the top.
Updated October 4th:
The Scott catalogue number for this issue is 5720.
Updated July 28th:
Here are the first-day postmarks for this issue:
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.60″ x 1.19″
The B&W pictorial measures 2.74″ x 1.18″
Updated July 28th from the Postal Bulletin:
On September 8, 2022, in Washington, DC, the United States Postal Service® will issue the James Webb Space Telescope stamp (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 482700). This stamp will go on sale nationwide September 8, 2022, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue.
Celebrate NASA’s remarkable James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), the largest and most complex telescope ever deployed in space — capable of peering directly into the early cosmos and studying every phase of cosmic history. Launched on December 25, 2021, Webb now orbits the Sun about a million miles away from Earth.
The image on the stamp is an artist’s digitally created depiction of the telescope against a dazzling starscape. The selvage image of a star and distant space was taken by Webb early in its mission, brilliantly confirming the perfect alignment of the telescope’s 18 mirror segments. Art director Derry Noyes was the designer for the stamp project using existing art by James Vaughan and an image provided by NASA/STScI.
No automatic distribution.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store® website at store.usps.com/store/home. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:
FDOI – James Webb Space Telescope Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by January 8, 2023.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: James Webb Space Telescope Stamp
Item Number: 482700
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20
Issue Date & City: September 8, 2022, Washington, DC 20066
Art Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Designer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Existing Art: James Vaughan, Kent, OH
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Gallus RCS
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 30,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.42 x 0.84 in/36.068 x 21.336 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.56 x 0.98 in/39.624 x 24.892 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 7.5 x 7.77 in/190.5 x 197.358 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 15.54 x 22.5 in/394.716 x 571.5 mm
Plate Size: 120 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “B” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header “James Webb Space Telescope” • Plate number in bottom two corners
Back: ©2022 USPS • USPS logo • Two barcodes (482700) • USPS LOGO • Promotional text • Plate position diagram (6)
Updated July 26th:
[ceremony details] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
USPS Celebrates James Webb Space Telescope
Device Seeks to Answer Age-Old Questions As It Reveals New Cosmic Mysteries
What: The James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most sensitive ever launched, can peer to the limits of the known universe.
The U.S. Postal Service will celebrate this remarkable device with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope Forever stamp.
Art director Derry Noyes was the designer for the stamp, using existing art by James Vaughan and an image provided by NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute.
The first-day-of-issue event is free and open to the public. News of the stamp is being shared with the hashtag #WebbTelescopeStamp.
Who: Anton Hajjar, vice chairman, U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors
When: Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at 11 a.m. ET
Where: Smithsonian National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002-4945
RSVP: Dedication ceremony attendees are encouraged to RSVP at: usps.com/webbtelescope.
Background: The U.S. Postal Service celebrates NASA’s remarkable James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and most complex telescope ever deployed in space — capable of peering directly into the early cosmos and studying every phase of cosmic history.
Its gold-coated mirror segments form a 21-foot-wide lens that captures faint infrared rays from billions of light-years away that represent the universe’s first accessible starlight. Revealed is the universe in its infancy, including galaxy formation. The Webb Telescope can also analyze exoplanets for potentially life-supporting conditions and provide unprecedentedly high-resolution views of our own solar system.
The heat-sensitive telescope must operate in extreme cold. From its orbit of the sun about a million miles from Earth, it is constantly positioned above the planet’s night side, orienting its optics and instruments in perpetual shade from the sun and Earth behind its tennis-court-size solar shield.
