NASA's Roman Space Telescope: a spy-built infrared eye to map dark matter and distant worlds
NASA is preparing to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope by August 2026. Built from former spy-telescope hardware, it will survey a wide swath of the sky to map the three-dimensional distribution of dark matter, measure the universe’s expansion with supernovae, detect rogue planets via microlensing, and test coronagraphic techniques to image Earth-like planets, using 18 large near-infrared detectors totaling about 300 megapixels—advancing detector technology that underpins Webb-era astronomy and laying groundwork for the Habitable Worlds Observatory.