Cape Canaveral: NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on a major mission to investigate some of the universe's biggest mysteries, including dark energy, dark matter, and planets beyond our solar system.
The telescope lifted off at 7:26 a.m. on Sunday, August 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch was successful, and the telescope separated from the rocket’s second stage about 31 minutes later. About an hour and 23 minutes after launch, NASA confirmed that the observatory’s solar panels and lower instrument sun shield had also deployed successfully.
Roman has now begun a journey of about one million miles, or 1.6 million kilometres, to an orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The telescope is expected to take more than three months to reach its destination.
Once there, the mission team will carry out deployments, calibration and testing before Roman begins its main scientific work. NASA expects the telescope to start returning its first scientific images in early 2027.
Roman is designed to give astronomers a much wider view of the universe than previous major space observatories. Its primary mirror is the same size as Hubble’s, measuring about 2.4 metres across, but its field of view is more than 100 times wider.
This means Roman will be able to survey large areas of the sky much more quickly. NASA says the telescope is designed to survey the universe about 1,000 times faster than Hubble.
Roman is not intended to replace Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope. Instead, it will complement them. Hubble and Webb can examine selected objects in great detail, while Roman is designed to scan much larger areas of the sky and build a broad picture of the universe.
One of Roman’s main goals is to improve understanding of dark energy, the poorly understood phenomenon associated with the accelerating expansion of the universe. Scientists also hope its observations will provide new information about dark matter, which cannot be seen directly but whose gravitational effects influence galaxies and other structures.
The telescope will also conduct a major survey of planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. NASA expects Roman to discover roughly 100,000 new exoplanets and provide a broader picture of planetary systems in our galaxy.
Its wide surveys are also expected to identify thousands of supernovae and provide information about billions of galaxies. These observations could help scientists study how the universe has changed over time and test existing ideas about its structure and evolution.
Roman carries a wide field infrared instrument as well as a Coronagraph Instrument. The coronagraph will demonstrate technology for directly imaging planets around other stars by blocking the stars’ bright light.
The telescope is not designed to prove whether life exists beyond Earth. However, the technology and discoveries from the mission could support future efforts to study potentially habitable worlds.
Roman is named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, who played a major role in developing the agency’s space astronomy programme. She also played an important role in the development of the Hubble Space Telescope.
The telescope has an unusual history. Its mirror was originally developed for a US intelligence satellite programme. The National Reconnaissance Office later donated the hardware to NASA, which adapted it for scientific use. The mirror is the same size as Hubble’s.
The mission is expected to operate for at least five years, with the possibility of a longer mission if resources allow.
Roman was launched nine months ahead of its original schedule. Its successful launch marks the beginning of a new phase for a mission designed to survey the universe on an unprecedented scale.
For scientists, some of the most important results may be discoveries they cannot yet predict. By surveying such a large part of the sky, Roman could find unexpected objects and patterns that improve or challenge current understanding of the cosmos.