Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Stories

NASA builds its next flagship space telescope to map the dark universe

As of May 2026: Built the Coronagraph Instrument

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is fully built and targeting a September 2026 launch — eight months ahead of schedule. Its 300-megapixel infrared camera has a field of view 100 times wider than Hubble's and will photograph a billion galaxies and discover more than 100,000 new worlds in its first five years.

Updated May 31

NASA's Psyche mission to a metal asteroid

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Builds, operates, and tracks Psyche

On Friday, NASA's Psyche spacecraft slipped past Mars at about 12,333 mph, flying within roughly 2,800 miles of the planet's surface. Mars's gravity bent its path and added speed, pointing the probe toward a metal asteroid still 280 million miles away.

Updated May 15