NASA launches its Roman Space Telescope to explore the hidden universe

Updated on: August 30, 2026 / 9:06 PM EDT / CBS News

NASA's $4.3 billion Roman Space Telescope was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Sunday, kicking off a three-month voyage to a point in space a million miles from Earth where it will map the large-scale structure of the cosmos with a wide-field 300-megapixel camera.

Using a Hubble-class mirror originally built for a spy satellite, Roman will search for clues about the nature of repulsive dark energy, which is accelerating the expansion of the universe, along with probing the distribution of equally mysterious dark matter, which holds galaxies together and accounts for most of its mass.

A second instrument, an experimental coronagraph with shape-shifting mirrors that can dim the glare of distant suns, will allow astronomers to analyze the light reflected from vastly dimmer Jupiter-size planets to tease out details about their chemical makeup.

At the same time, Roman's wide-field camera will look for stars that periodically dim as planets pass in front as viewed from the telescope. Some 6,200 exoplanets have been discovered to date. By the end of Roman's mission, that number is expected to climb well above 100,000.

Along with a treasure trove of exoplanets…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/