NASA launches its Roman telescope beginning cosmic mapping mission

NASA launched its new flagship space telescope on Sunday, embarking on a multi-year mission to create an unprecedented map of the cosmos and shed light on some of the biggest mysteries in physics.

The Roman Space Telescope is designed to take a panoramic view of the vast reaches of space. Standing over 12 meters tall, the state-of-the-art observatory was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:26 am local time aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Developed over more than a decade at a cost topping $4 billion, the telescope is named after pioneering US astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, who became known as the "Mother of Hubble," another of NASA's flagship telescopes.