NASA Roman Space Telescope Launches to Study Dark Universe

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched successfully on August 31, 2026, beginning a three-month journey to a vantage point one million miles from Earth. The observatory lifted off at 7:26 a.m. EDT aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center began receiving telemetry from the spacecraft seven minutes after launch, and the Falcon Heavy performed as planned, separating from the observatory 31 minutes after liftoff.