NASA launches its Roman Space Telescope to explore the hidden universe

August 30, 2026 / 7:54 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google NASA's newest telescope blasted off Sunday on a five-year mission to explore the secrets of dark energy and survey the cosmos like never before.SpaceX launched the $4.3 billion Roman Space Telescope shortly after daybreak from Kennedy Space Center. Roman blazed toward an observation point 1 million miles away that's home to the Webb Space Telescope, one of NASA's other big-ticket eyes in the sky.The 42-foot-long, 18,000-pound telescope is named for the late Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer, who championed the value of space telescopes throughout her career and was instrumental in developing the Hubble Space Telescope. As such, she is often referred to as "the mother of Hubble."This is breaking news. Check back for updates. Lucia I Suarez Sang contributed to this report. In: NASA Unlocking cosmic secrets with NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman telescope 02:54 Unlocking cosmic secrets with NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman telescope (02:54)