The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) Has Components Derived from U.S. Spy Satellites

In recent days, we reported that the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) is essentially ready for integration and launch, set for September 2026. This new scientific instrument will join other space and ground telescopes to observe the Universe and will be positioned at the second Lagrange point (1.5 million km from Earth). It will be an ideal pairing with HST and JWST. In particular, with the latter, making a photographic comparison, it can be seen as a wide-angle lens (RST) and a telephoto lens (JWST).

One of the most interesting (and well-known) curiosities of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, before we see the images and what data it will capture, is related to the components used. It is not uncommon for NASA to use parts that come from agencies of the Department of Defense (DoD, now the Department of War), particularly from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). A similar situation occurred with Hubble, where the main mirror derives from components intended for spy satellites. There are also some rumors that Webb would use components developed together by Northrop Grumman for next-generation spy satellites.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and Spy Satellites

The information regarding the use of components from U.S. spy satellites for the new RST dates back several years when the project was still called the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). As can be read in an official NRO document, now declassified, the surveillance agency had available two partially disassembled telescopic components, a third primary mirror, and other spare parts. These parts were supposed to be integrated into spy satellites, but the NRO changed its plans and decided to use them for NASA instead. One possibility is that the components were to be used in the FIA-Optical project (also called Future Imagery Architecture - Optical), the successor to KH-11 (Keyhole-11), which had Boeing as a contractor. Due to rising costs, deemed too high even for the DoD, the program was canceled.

In particular, within the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the Optical Telescope Assembly and the primary mirror have been employed. The latter was built by Exelis (now part of L3Harris) between the late 1990s and early 2000s. This solution is derived from that of Hubble but is even more advanced and lighter, allowing for mass savings for other components. There are no (public) photographs of all the components that were intended for the DoD program, while there are photographs of the primary mirror "stripped" of the classified parts. This choice allowed NASA to save about 275 million dollars and several months of development to the benefit of the space agency.

An example of a photograph captured by a spy satellite (source)

We do not have precise information about the capabilities of U.S. spy satellites. Considering the theoretical potential, at around 200 km altitude, a resolution of just under 6 cm/pixel could be achieved. However, agencies tend to not release full-resolution images that clearly demonstrate their observational capabilities to hostile nations, although some clues have been indirectly provided by President Donald Trump showing an image from a printed photograph.