Eyes on the Universe: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Named after Nancy Grace Roman (NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy and the “Mother of Hubble”) this revolutionary space telescope is scheduled to launch on 30 August 2026, eight months ahead of schedule. So what can we expect from one of the most powerful observatories ever built?

What is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope?

The Roman Space Telescope (RST) is a NASA infrared telescope which will be sent to a Sun-Earth L₂ orbit. The RST will have a field of view about 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope. It is hoped to answer questions regarding dark energy and exoplanets, while surveying vast swaths of the sky for new celestial objects.

The Build of the RST

The RST has a primary mirror the same size as the Hubble Space Telescope (2.4 meters wide). The mirror has a silver coating less than 400nm thick, and it is polished so that the ‘bumps’ on its surface measure no taller than 1.2nm.

One of the instruments carried by the telescope is the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), an important camera that will provide multiband imaging and spectroscopy (from visible light to near-infrared). The second instrument aboard the RST is the Coronagraph Instrument (CGI). The CGI will allow scientists to directly image an exoplanet by blocking starlight and any other glare that would obstruct the view of faint planets. The CGI will also act as a way to demonstrate this new technology that will be used in future projects.

To sustainably power the telescope, the Solar Array Sun Shield, made up of six solar panels, will face the Sun for the entire duration of the mission. This orientation also keeps heat and light away from the sensitive infrared instruments, which must remain cool to detect faint signals from space.

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope's Optical telescope in the world's largest clean room at Goddard Space Flight Centre

The Core Mission of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

The RST is expected to answer basic questions about dark energy and cosmic acceleration. Is there some new energy that has been causing cosmic acceleration? If it is new energy, what are the characteristics of this energy?

The telescope will also be completing a census of exoplanets. This will help scientists assess how many planetary systems similar to our Solar System exist, along with whether any planets in these systems are habitable. 

Aside from these two main goals, it will also be on the lookout for primordial black holes and provide direct images of multiple exoplanets.

What does the Roman mean for the future of Space Science?

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope represents a landmark moment in observational astronomy. With its vast field of view, coronagraph technology, and infrared precision, Roman is set to generate more data in a single year than Hubble has produced across its entire lifetime: Roman is expected to collect 20 petabytes of data. The answers it finds will shape the questions astronomers ask for decades to come. Roman will be the foundation upon which the next era of space science will be built.