The Roman Space telescope and its Falcon Heavy upper stage spotted in space a few hours after launch – 30 Aug. 2026.
We spotted the Roman Space Telescope on its way to the lagrangian L2 point, less than 8 hours after launch. We also captured the SpaceX Falcon Heavy upper stage. See our image and animation below.
The Roman Space Telescope and the Falcon Heavy upper stage, captured less than 8 hours after launch. 30 Aug. 2026.
The image above comes from a single 120-second, unfiltered exposure, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount MEII + SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project and installed in Manciano, Italy. The telescope tracked the telescope while imaging. The target was just 13 degrees above the SE horizon.
The Roman Space Telescope and the Falcon upper stage are properly labeled on the image, see the caption. At the imaging time, the Roman Space Telescope was about 110.000km away from our observatory.
Below a short animation, showing how the upper stage was blinking while tumbling.
The Roman Space Telescope and the Falcon Heavy upper stage moves against the stars on the background.
Support The Virtual Telescope Project!
Support us! Please, donate and celebrate the ARTEMIS II mission with an EXCLUSIVE and STUNNING digital hi-res image of the largest Supermoon of 2025 to download and frame on your wall and many more pictures, specifically made for supporters like you!
