NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was launched on August 30, 2026, using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After separating from the rocket's upper stage about 31 minutes into the flight, the telescope is now on its way to the sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a unique gravitational spot about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth, in the direction of Mars. This location is ideal for space telescopes because it allows for stable positioning and minimal interference from Earth's light and heat. The Roman Space Telescope is designed to explore some of the most fundamental questions in astronomy, such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy, which together make up the majority of the universe's mass and energy. It will also search for exoplanets—planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. The telescope is expected to begin its scientific observations in early 2027 and has a planned operational lifespan of five years, though it may last longer, similar to the Hubble Space Telescope, which has far exceeded its original mission duration. The Roman Space Telescope is equipped with two main scientific instruments: the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), a 300-megapixel infrared camera capable of capturing vast areas of the sky with high precision, and the Coronagraph Instrument (CGI), which will block the light from distant stars to allow the detection of smaller, dimmer planets. These tools will enable scientists to study the early universe and the expansion of space, as well as identify and analyze exoplanets in detail. Once it reaches L2, the telescope will take about 90 days to complete a commissioning period, during which engineers will test and fine-tune its systems to ensure they are fully operational. Its unique barrel-like design helps block light from the sun, Earth, and moon, and its distant location will allow the instruments to remain cool, offering a ten-fold improvement in thermal stability compared to the Hubble Space Telescope. The Roman Space Telescope will join other major observatories at L2, including NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and Europe's Euclid probe, though it will follow a larger orbit to avoid interfering with them.