spacetoday.net: Falcon Heavy launches Roman Space Telescope

Posted: Sun, Aug 30, 2026, 8:25 PM ET (0025 GMT)
Falcon Heavy launch of Roman Space Telescope (NASA/J. Kowsky)

A Falcon Heavy successfully launched a NASA space telescope that promises to revolutionize astronomy on Sunday. The Falcon Heavy lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT) and deployed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope about 31 minutes later. Roman is a $4.3 billion mission operating from the Earth-Sun L2 point that will survey the universe using a wide-field camera. It also has a coronagraph instrument that astronomers will use to directly image exoplanets. Astronomers say Roman data may help them resolve key questions about cosmology, including dark energy and dark matter. It will also detect billions of stars and galaxies and up to 100,000 exoplanets. NASA completed Roman on budget and launched it about nine months ahead of schedule.