Key facts
- The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope, costing $4.3 billion, is scheduled for launch.
- The telescope aims to study exoplanets and the accelerating expansion of the universe.
- It survived proposed budget cuts from the Trump administration.
- Roman will operate at Lagrange point 2, one million miles from Earth.
- Its advanced camera offers a significantly larger field of view than Hubble.
- The launch is the final flight for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.
The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope, a $4.3 billion NASA project, is set to launch early Sunday from Florida, marking a significant step in space exploration. The telescope, named after NASA's first chief astronomer, is designed to study exoplanets and the accelerating expansion of the universe, complementing the work of the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.
Despite facing proposed budget cuts from the Trump administration, including attempts to eliminate the project, Congress ultimately restored NASA's funding. The Roman telescope boasts a 300-megapixel infrared camera with a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble's and includes a coronagraph to photograph planets around stars. It will travel to Lagrange point 2, a stable orbit one million miles from Earth.
NASA anticipates initial images from Roman in early 2027, following months of calibration. The telescope's mission is intended to provide context for observations made by Hubble and Webb, and to make its own groundbreaking discoveries. The project's conception dates back to the late 20th century, driven by the discovery of the universe's accelerating expansion.
The launch also signifies the final flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket as the company shifts focus to its Starship program. The Trump administration has continued to propose budget reductions for NASA, though Congress has previously rejected these cuts.