James Webb Space Telescope aloft, next NASA Telescope to launch in SpaceX Falcon Heavy

US space agency NASA achieved great success by launching and placing the James Webb Space Telescope in orbit. Now, NASA is working on its next telescope. NASA recently awarded SpaceX the tender to provide launch services for its next telescope mission named Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission. It is a top-priority large space mission which was suggested by more than a decade old Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey 2010. It is an indefinite-delivery contract, which will cost around $255 million for NASA to launch the new telescope. However, this also includes the launch service and other mission-related costs. According to the contract, NASA will launch the next telescope on the Spacex's Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

“NASA has selected Falcon Heavy to launch the Roman Space Telescope, which is designed to study dark energy and dark matter, search for and image exoplanets, and more,” SpaceX tweeted. However, liftoff of the telescope is targeted for no earlier than October 2026 as specified in the contract from Complex 39A in Florida, SpaceX confirmed. This telescope mission follows the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope mission which was launched last year in December with an aim to search for early galaxies and habitable planets. Recently, Webb Telescope shared its first colourful images of the oldest galaxy ever seen and new stars.

Now, almost after 5 years, this new telescope will be launched into the skies which will investigate questions on cosmology. It will feature a spacecraft equipped with a 2.4-meter primary mirror to explore subjects such as the effects of dark energy and dark matter, and exoplanet hunting. The new telescope also includes a substantial general investigator program that will enable further studies of astrophysical phenomena to advance other science goals.

NASA shared that the telescope was previously called the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST), but it was later renamed to Roman telescope in honor of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman for her extraordinary work at NASA. He is well known for his contribution and enlightening work for large space telescopes.