Stamp Services

Stamp Announcement 22-30: James Webb Space Telescope Stamp

©2022 USPS

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.

Availability to Post Offices: Item 482700, James Webb Space Telescope (Forever Priced at the First-Class Mail Rate) Pane of 20 Stamps

Stamp Fulfillment Services will not make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices. Post Offices may begin ordering stamps before the first-day-of-issue through SFS Web at sfsweb.usps.gov/sfsweb.

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.

 How to Order First-Day Covers

The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the USA Philatelic catalog and online at store.usps.com/store/home. Customers may register to receive a free USA Philatelic catalog online at usps.com/philatelic.

Locally produced items are not authorized. Only merchandise that has been approved and assigned an item number by Headquarters Retail Marketing may be produced and sold.

— Stamp Services, Marketing, 7-28-22