CATCH ME UP
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center.
The spacecraft is traveling toward the second Lagrange point, a journey NASA expects to take about three months.
It has already completed initial deployments, including its communications antenna and sunshade.
NASA says the Coronagraph Instrument has been powered on.
More context
The observatory is intended to study dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets.
NASA says the telescope combines Hubble-like image quality with a wider field of view.
First images are anticipated by early 2027.