Compare Space Telescopes

Pick up to 4 telescopes to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.

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Space telescope data has underpinned 1.5 million+ scientific papers since 1990.

Attribute	Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NASA/ESA · 🇺🇸 Active · Last updated 2026-06-01 Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×	Spitzer Space Telescope NASA · 🇺🇸 Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×	Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) NASA · 🇺🇸 Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×
Agency	NASA/ESA	NASA	NASA
Status	Active	Retired	In Development
Wavelength band	multi	infrared	infrared
Launch year	1990	2003 – 2020	2027
Orbit	Low Earth Orbit (LEO) ~547 km	Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit	Sun-Earth L2 point
Mirror / aperture	2.4 mas of 1990-04-24^[1] ↑ Largest	0.85 mas of 2003-08-25^[1]	2.4 mas of 2024-01-01^[1]Same aperture as Hubble but 100× wider field of view ↑ Largest
Mass	11,110 kgas of 1990-04-24^[1] ↑ Heaviest	950 kgas of 2003-08-25^[1]	~4,200 kgas of 2024-01-01^[1]Estimated; uses repurposed NRO mirror donated to NASA
Wavelength range	0.115–2.5 μm (UV, optical, near-IR)	3.6–160 μm (mid-to-far infrared)	0.48–2.3 μm (optical + NIR)
Key missions	• Hubble Deep Field (1995) • Hubble Ultra Deep Field (2004) • Dark energy discovery with Type Ia SNe (1998) • Exoplanet atmosphere characterization • Over 1.6 million observations	• Detection of 7 TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets (2016–2017) • Dusty disk mapping around stars • Star-forming region imaging (Cygnus X) • Cosmic evolution DEEP Survey (GOODS)	• High-latitude Wide Area Survey (dark energy/weak lensing) • Microlensing survey (exoplanet demographics) • Guest observer program • Coronagraph technology demonstration
Summary	The most scientifically productive telescope ever built. Launched in 1990 and serviced five times by Space Shuttle crews, Hubble has logged over 1.6 million observations and contributed to more than 21,000 peer-reviewed publications. Its image of the Hubble Deep Field fundamentally changed our understanding of galaxy formation.	NASA's infrared Great Observatory, operating 2003–2020. Best known for discovering the TRAPPIST-1 system of 7 Earth-sized planets, including 3 in the habitable zone (with ground telescopes). Ran out of cryogen in 2009 but continued 'warm mission' until retirement in January 2020.	NASA's next flagship astronomy mission. Roman's 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument (WFI) has Hubble-equivalent resolution but covers 0.28 square degrees per pointing — 100× wider than Hubble. Its 5-year primary mission will census dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanet populations across the Milky Way.

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Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO)+

NASA

Active

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope+

NASA/DOE/international

Active

TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)+

NASA

Active

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)+

About this tool

All 9 major space telescopes with primary-source citations from NASA, ESA, STScI, and JPL. Pure URL state — bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.

📋 What changed recently

Jun 2026Updated Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launch estimate to Q2 2027 after schedule review.
Jun 2026Added Euclid DR2 data release reference and updated key discoveries entry.
May 2026Clarified Chandra cooling system status; updated TESS extended mission status to ongoing.

Attribute

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

NASA/ESA · 🇺🇸

Active · Last updated 2026-06-01

Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

Spitzer Space Telescope

NASA · 🇺🇸

Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman)

NASA · 🇺🇸

Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ

Last verified 2026-06-01Remove ×

Agency

NASA/ESA

NASA

Status

Active

Retired

In Development

Wavelength band

multi

infrared

Launch year

1990

2003 – 2020

2027

Orbit

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) ~547 km

Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit

Sun-Earth L2 point

Mirror / aperture

2.4 mas of 1990-04-24^[1]

↑ Largest

0.85 mas of 2003-08-25^[1]

2.4 mas of 2024-01-01^[1]Same aperture as Hubble but 100× wider field of view

↑ Largest

Mass

11,110 kgas of 1990-04-24^[1]

↑ Heaviest

950 kgas of 2003-08-25^[1]

~4,200 kgas of 2024-01-01^[1]Estimated; uses repurposed NRO mirror donated to NASA

Wavelength range

0.115–2.5 μm (UV, optical, near-IR)

3.6–160 μm (mid-to-far infrared)

0.48–2.3 μm (optical + NIR)

Key missions

• Hubble Deep Field (1995)
• Hubble Ultra Deep Field (2004)
• Dark energy discovery with Type Ia SNe (1998)
• Exoplanet atmosphere characterization
• Over 1.6 million observations

• Detection of 7 TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets (2016–2017)
• Dusty disk mapping around stars
• Star-forming region imaging (Cygnus X)
• Cosmic evolution DEEP Survey (GOODS)

• High-latitude Wide Area Survey (dark energy/weak lensing)
• Microlensing survey (exoplanet demographics)
• Guest observer program
• Coronagraph technology demonstration

Summary

The most scientifically productive telescope ever built. Launched in 1990 and serviced five times by Space Shuttle crews, Hubble has logged over 1.6 million observations and contributed to more than 21,000 peer-reviewed publications. Its image of the Hubble Deep Field fundamentally changed our understanding of galaxy formation.

NASA's infrared Great Observatory, operating 2003–2020. Best known for discovering the TRAPPIST-1 system of 7 Earth-sized planets, including 3 in the habitable zone (with ground telescopes). Ran out of cryogen in 2009 but continued 'warm mission' until retirement in January 2020.

NASA's next flagship astronomy mission. Roman's 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument (WFI) has Hubble-equivalent resolution but covers 0.28 square degrees per pointing — 100× wider than Hubble. Its 5-year primary mission will census dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanet populations across the Milky Way.