Roman lifts off on a mission to survey the infrared sky

Image: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 07:26 EDT / 12:26 BST/ 13:26 CEST on 30 August 2026. With the successful launch, Roman began its mission to survey the sky in visible to near-infrared light to help reveal the nature of dark energy and dark matter. The telescope will also investigate the true diversity of exoplanets in our galaxy.Roman is a NASA-led mission to which the European Space Agency (ESA) contributed star trackers, batteries, and detectors for the coronagraph instrument. ESA will also provide communications support through its deep-space ground station network, and enable data download using its new 35-metre antenna in New Norcia, Australia.“I warmly congratulate our colleagues at NASA on the successful launch of Roman,” says Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science. “ESA is proud to have provided essential hardware and to continue supporting Roman’s ambitious scientific goals. Together, we are opening new windows on the cosmos.”Like ESA’s Euclid space telescope, Roman will enable astronomers to study the Universe in unprecedented detail. It is equipped with a pr…

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