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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is three Falcon 9 rockets connected that can produce 5.1 million pounds of thrust. (Courtesy\/SpaceX)<\/p>\nKENNEDY SPACE CENTER \u2014 NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket amid clear skies and a rising sun headed for a mission to unravel mysteries of the universe.<\/p>\n
The powerhouse rocket lifted off from KSC\u2019s Launch Pad 39-A at 7:26 a.m. with the $4.3 billion telescope that\u2019s flying to a point 1 million miles from Earth. It\u2019s on a mission to study the mysteries of dark energy while also in line to discover billions of galaxies and tens of thousands of planets.<\/p>\n
The Roman Space Telescope is flying nine months ahead of schedule and within budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a mission absolutely worth getting up for,\u201d said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. \u201cI am first. I\u2019m beyond excited for the NASA Goddard Spaceflight team, the NASA JPL team, literally the thousands that have come together to deliver NASA\u2019s great exploration asset right now, under budget and actually ahead of schedule. This is extremely exciting. I mean, this mission could change our fundamental understanding of the universe: dark matter, dark energy, maybe 100,000 more exoplanets. I mean, this is a really exciting time.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s headed to a spot called Lagrange Point 2, putting the Earth between it and the sun. It\u2019s where the James Webb and other space telescopes are parked, giving them a pristine view of the galaxy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s five years to be able to do everything that we want to do, but we are going to be looking, making the first direct measurements of exoplanets around distant stars,\u201d said Nicky Fox, the associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate during a prelaunch briefing Saturday. \u201cWe are going to be measuring dark energy and dark matter, and that\u2019s like measuring the fabric of the universe and the energy that powers it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Compared to the Hubble Space Telescope, Roman will have a 100 times wider view, even though the lens is the same size, and it will gather data 1,000 times faster. It has a primary instrument that will take wide-view images of the universe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never been able to do that in the way that Roman is going to do it. We\u2019ll look at swaths of the sky that we\u2019ve never looked at before,\u201d she said. \u201cYou think Hubble has done this incredible science. It\u2019s looked everywhere. It\u2019s looked at these amazing things. But there\u2019s so much of the sky that we haven\u2019t ever looked at, and that\u2019s what Nancy Grace Roman is going to do for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is also a secondary coronagraph that will get chances to hone in on specific stars to try and find details about exoplanets that orbit them.<\/p>\n
The mysteries of dark energy and dark matter are something astrophysicists have been wrestling with for nearly three decades. It\u2019s hypothesized this is the main driver of how the universe is expanding. The Roman telescope will be able to use imagery of things like supernova and black holes to more definitely measure that expansion than has ever been possible before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a model of the universe, and with the data we\u2019ve been taking with the other telescopes, it\u2019s showing that the model isn\u2019t quite correct,\u201d Fox said. \u201cWhen we launch this mission, we will have an actual model of the universe that, not just for a single moment, but something for years that we can study how it\u2019s changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two of the Falcon Heavy\u2019s boosters will make their way back to nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for a landing, aiming for touchdowns at Landing Zones 2 and 40. This will be the first flight for one of the boosters while the other supported two previous Falcon Heavy launches.<\/p>\n
Their return means Central Florida could be in store for one or more sonic booms.<\/p>\n
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is three Falcon 9 rockets connected that can produce 5.1 million pounds of thrust. (Courtesy\/SpaceX)<\/p>\n
This is only the 13th time Falcon Heavy has flown since its debut in 2018 when it launched Elon Musk\u2019s Tesla roadster into deep space.<\/p>\n
The rocket produces 5.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, which is only second to NASA\u2019s Space Launch System among active rockets launching from the Space Coast.<\/p>\n
Starship, though, when it arrives, will more that triple the power of Falcon Heavy.<\/p>\n
But Falcon Heavy is still one of the spectacles that draw crowds for its launch.<\/p>\n
This is only the second time it will launch this year<\/a> after having not launched at all in 2025. Space Coast launches in general will be diminished until Starship gets up and running as SpaceX announced it would cease Falcon 9 missions<\/a> for its Starlink satellite program from the Space Coast.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The space telescope arrived this summer from NASA\u2019s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a lot of new observations trying to understand some of the big questions about what we call the \u2018Black Universe,\u2019\u00a0 . . .\u00a0 to understand how the universe is evolving in an accelerated manner, is expanding and through something we call dark energy, and to hunt for new planets,\u201d said Lucas Paganini, a program manager for the space telescope in NASA\u2019s Astrophysics Division.<\/p>\n He said it will complement the likes of the Hubble Space Telescope, which launched in 1990, and James Webb Space Telescope, which launched in 2021, as it is armed with different instruments including a 300 megapixel camera and will cast a much wider net using infrared light when viewing the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cTelescopes like Hubble and Webb, what we\u2019ve done in the past is observe a specific object,\u201d he said, but Roman\u2019s approach will be \u201cto observe huge portions of the sky \u2026 billions of galaxies, billions of stars, and discover thousands of new planets beyond the solar system.\u201d<\/p>\n He paid homage to the telescope\u2019s namesake, who was also given the moniker, \u201cThe Mother of Hubble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was a key person in our exploration of space. She understood that in order to better understand the universe, you have to go in space,\u201d he said. \u201cShe made Hubble possible.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the Roman telescope builds on Hubble and James Webb as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have learned a lot of lessons from from Hubble. We\u2019re using a similar mirror, but lighter. We know what we need in order to understand wider portions of the skies by changing some aspects of the design, and of course, Webb is also an engineering marvel. It\u2019s impressive what we can do with Webb, something we cannot do with Roman, right? That\u2019s why they\u2019re highly complementary. And eventually, what we learn from Roman is going to help us develop the next generation telescope, which is the Habitable Worlds Observatory.\u201d<\/p>\n While the price tag is in the billions, it has come in under budget and ahead of schedule, with a launch about eight months earlier than originally planned. That hallmark has been one of the highlights NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has been touting.<\/p>\n \u201cRoman\u2019s accelerated development is a true success story of what we can achieve when public investment, institutional expertise and private enterprise come together to take on the near impossible missions that change the world,\u201d he said at a media event at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in April.<\/p>\n Fox said the project for a dark energy telescope has been in the works since it was recommended in the National Research Council\u2019s 2010 decadal survey that ranks which astronomy and astrophysics projects should be pursued. The hardware came together at Goddard over the last six years.<\/p>\n \u201cSince early in 2020 the Roman team has worked almost around the clock to develop and test the spacecraft and the hardware, completing the flagship mission in just six years, which is a true testament to the agency\u2019s commitment to do science, cutting edge science even faster,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now fully assembled following the integration of its two major segments on Nov. 25, 2025 at the agency\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Marylandd. The mission is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026. (Jolearra Tshiteya\/NASA)<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands fully assembled, following the integration of its two major segments, in the clean room at the agency\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Jolearra Tshiteya\/NASA)<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 2<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now fully assembled following the integration of its two major segments on Nov. 25, 2025 at the agency\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Marylandd. The mission is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026. (Jolearra Tshiteya\/NASA)<\/p>\n![\"Technicians](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788093036_78_TOS-L-Roman-Telescope-Vertical-02.jpg\")
Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida use a crane to lift the agency\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to a vertical position on Thursday, June 25, 2026, as processing continues ahead of a launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy as early as August 30. (Sydney Rohde (Rocz)\/NASA)<\/p>\n![\"NASA\u00e2\u0080\u0099s](\"https:\/\/www.orlandosentinel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/54963276156_ab4f24f068_o.jpg?w=620\")
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