L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) provided critical components for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which has successfully launched, according to a company press release.

L3Harris built the 2.4-meter Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), which serves as the primary optical element of the observatory. The company also supplied radiation-hardened electronics designed to keep the telescope operational at approximately 1 million miles from Earth.

Once operational, the OTA is designed to conduct three primary surveys, including an examination of the Milky Way's galactic center aimed at producing what the company describes as the largest astronomical catalog ever compiled. The telescope is also planned to scan roughly 12% of the entire sky in under 18 months to measure the rate of universal expansion and study supernova explosions from up to 8 billion years ago.

"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.

The collaboration between L3Harris and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center spanned more than a decade. L3Harris has previously contributed technology to other space missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the Mars Perseverance and Curiosity rovers.