SpaceX launched NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Sunday morning aboard Falcon Heavy. Liftoff was at 7:26 am ET from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. And seven and a half minutes later, the day got off to a booming start for many on the Space Coast today when a pair of sonic booms echoed across the area just as they landed at Cape Canaveral Space Station.

A little more than one half an hour later, SpaceX successfully completed its part of the mission when it deployed the Roman Space Telescope on its own. Now in orbit, the telescope will begin moving towards its final destination at Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2. After arrival and full commissioning, the Roman telescope is expected to see first light in early 2027.

About The Roman Space Telescope

The Roman Space Telescope is a NASA flagship observatory designed to study dark energy and dark matter.

Once it is in operation, Roman will have an unobstructed view of the universe, and with a wide field of view at least 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. As such, Roman will be able to map distant galaxies, hunt for new exoplanets, study black holes, and see further into the core of our own galaxy than ever before. In short, this telescope will ensure that astronomy’s Golden Age continues as the new instrument will provide data unobtainable until now.

Author: Charles Boyer

NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.