Roman Telescope on its way to new home: All that has happened in space

Nasa’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has had a busy first few days in space.After years of development, the powerful observatory lifted off on August 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and has now begun its journey towards its permanent home in deep space.But Roman is not ready to start surveying the universe just yet.It is currently undergoing a series of crucial deployments, trajectory adjustments and system checks before it begins science operations. NANCY GRACE ROMAN TELESCOPE ON ITS OWNRoman launched at 4:56 pm IST on August 30 from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The launch was followed by a series of successful rocket manoeuvres, including separation from the Falcon Heavy’s second stage. At about 5:27 pm IST on the same day, Roman separated from the rocket and established communication with ground controllers.The telescope is now travelling towards the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2, about 15 lakh kilometres from Earth. Nasa expects the journey to take roughly three months. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope on board is seen launching. (Photo: Nasa) The spacecraft also completed its first mid-course correction burn on August 31.The roughly three-minute manoeuvre adjusted its trajectory towards L2.A second correction may be carried out later this week, while Roman's insertion into its orbit around L2 is expected about 100 days after launch.ANTENNA AND INSTRUMENTS ARE ACTIVESeveral important deployments have already gone according to plan.Roman’s large communications antenna successfully deployed on August 31. It will allow the telescope to send enormous volumes of scientific data back to Earth, at rates of up to 500 megabits per second.A large protective sunshade, designed to keep unwanted light away from the telescope, also deployed successfully on September 1.Then came another major milestone.Nasa switched and powered on Roman’s Coronagraph Instrument, a technology demonstration designed to block the glare of stars so that nearby planets and dusty discs can be studied more clearly.The instrument will now undergo months of calibration and testing.The main Wide Field Instrument, which will carry out Roman’s huge surveys of the cosmos, is expected to power on in the coming weeks.Roman’s commissioning phase will continue for about three months.What is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope? Why do we need it? What will it unveil?Learn more about Roman and how it will help us investigate some of the many mysteries of the universe.Roman is set to launch Aug 30th at 7:26 am ET. Stay up to date on the mission: pic.twitter.com/tgJmjWeo0z— Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (@NASARoman) August 14, 2026Nasa currently expects the telescope’s first images by early 2027.Once fully operational, its five-year primary mission will investigate dark energy and dark matter, map billions of galaxies and search for tens of thousands of planets beyond our solar system.Its unusually wide view of the sky will complement, rather than replace, the detailed observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope.- EndsPublished On: Sep 2, 2026 16:15 IST