L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has contributed key elements to NASA’s successfully launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, an observatory designed to map the universe. The milestone marks the culmination of more than a decade of engineering, innovation and collaboration between L3Harris and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
L3Harris provided the 2.4-metre Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) for NASA, which serves as Roman’s optical eye. The company also supported the mission with radiation-hardened electronics designed to keep the telescope operating approximately 1 million miles from Earth.
“It’s a great source of pride for L3Harris that the optical eye we engineered will survey the cosmos 1,000 times faster than the Hubble Space Telescope and is expected to unveil billions of galaxies, hundreds of millions of stars and more than 100,000 distant worlds,” said Jeff Hanke, President, Space Systems, Space & Mission Systems, L3Harris. “This L3Harris technology is helping to rewrite our understanding of the universe.”
Once operational, Roman’s L3Harris-built OTA will support three primary surveys, including observations through the Milky Way’s dense galactic centre to build the largest astronomical catalogue ever compiled. The telescope will scan roughly 12% of the entire sky in under 18 months to measure how quickly the universe is expanding and study supernova explosions from as far as 8 billion years ago.
The milestone continues L3Harris’ involvement in space exploration, with its technology having played a role in missions including the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Mars Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, the GPS satellite constellation and systems aboard the International Space Station.
