X

NASA's Dark Energy Hunting Telescope Will Launch on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is scheduled to head to space on Musk's most powerful rocket.

Headshot of Jackson Ryan
Headshot of Jackson Ryan
Jackson Ryan Former Science Editor
Jackson Ryan was CNET's science editor, and a multiple award-winning one at that. Earlier, he'd been a scientist, but he realized he wasn't very happy sitting at a lab bench all day. Science writing, he realized, was the best job in the world -- it let him tell stories about space, the planet, climate change and the people working at the frontiers of human knowledge. He also owns a lot of ugly Christmas sweaters.
Jackson Ryan
2 min read
Falcon Heavy engines burn with fire as the rocket launches against the dark of night

The engines of the Falcon Heavy during liftoff

 SpaceX

Space telescopes are all the rage right now, thanks to the immaculate first images of the cosmos beamed back to Earth by the James Webb Space Telescope. That 'scope is likely to deliver data and scenes from deep space for decades, but the fun doesn't stop there. In just over four years, NASA plans to launch its next next-gen space telescope: The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope.

In a press release on Tuesday, NASA said SpaceX has won the launch contract and Roman will be launching on a Falcon Heavy and the date for go is currently listed as October 2026.

Roman, previously known as the Wfirst telescope, will look at the universe in infrared, just like Webb does. The mission's primary objectives are to probe the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe, but it also includes a specialized instrument known as a "coronagraph" that can block out light from distant stars and detect exoplanets in orbit around them. Roman isn't an upgrade over Webb, but it will provide a look at the universe that is, according to NASA, a ten-fold improvement over Hubble. 

The telescope will sit at the Lagrange point, L2, a million miles from Earth -- just like Webb does. Basically, the two telescopes will be neighbors.  

an artist's illustration of the nancy grace roman telescope backed by a purple glow in deep space

NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is now named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, after NASA's first Chief of Astronomy.

 NASA

Entrusted with the task of delivering Roman to L2 is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket currently in operation, chalking up over 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

The monstrous rocket hasn't been used since it's third flight in June 2019, when it launched various Department of Defense satellites to orbit in what the company called "the most difficult launch ever." The rocket contains three boosters -- a core and two side boosters -- that return to Earth for re-use. However, in all three launches so far, the core booster has been lost. 

SpaceX's next Falcon Heavy launch will occur in August, with two more launches planned for 2022.

Watch this: James Webb Space Telescope: First Images Explained