Trump hails NASA’s space telescope launch

President Trump on Sunday praised NASA for launching its dark universe-seeking space telescope.

“Congratulations to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, and the Great Patriots at NASA, on a successful launch,” Trump wrote on Truth Social . “This is THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!”

NASA launched its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:26 a.m. EDT Sunday, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

The telescope pairs a large field of view with crisp infrared vision to “explore vast swaths of the sky and probe deeply into cosmic history,” NASA noted in a release .

The mission will help astronomers “explore dark matter, dark energy, and worlds outside of our solar system,” known as exoplanets.

Isaacman, whom Trump nominated to lead NASA last year, said the launch of the Roman telescope “is exactly the kind of success story we want to see” at the agency.

“Delivered ahead of schedule and on budget, this mission reflects more than a decade of dedication from the NASA workforce and our industry partners,” Isaacman added in the release, noting the telescope “will give us a new atlas of the universe, push the boundaries of discovery, and demonstrate what is possible when America’s space program pairs bold ambition with disciplined execution.”

The ground control team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland began receiving telemetry data from Roman seven minutes after launch, with the Falcon Heavy rocket separating from the observatory 31 minutes into the flight.

After separating from the center core, the rocket’s boosters returned safely to the launch site in Florida for “refurbishment,” NASA noted.

NASA will commission the telescope for three months, with its final destination set for the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point — roughly one million miles from Earth. NASA said it anticipates releasing Roman’s first images by early 2027.

Trump traveled to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday, during which he awarded the agency’s Artemis II crew with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

U.S. astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Canadian Jeremy Hansen received the honor four months after they flew around the moon .

The president signed an executive order in December calling for NASA to establish the initial elements of a moon base by 2030 under the Artemis program.

But negotiations between Senate and House Republicans on a bill to reauthorize funding for NASA have stalled . A person close to the House Science Committee, though, told The Hill both chambers will pass the legislation by the end of the year.