NASA to Launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch on August 30, 2026, with live coverage starting at 6:20 AM ET. The mission aims to study dark energy and exoplanets.
The launch date was moved up from the previously planned September schedule, after engineers completed the final inspection of the telescope's primary mirror in late May to ensure it had not been damaged during testing. The infrared telescope has a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble's, allowing it to observe a wider swath of the universe at any single time. It is designed to study dark energy using different techniques and to block starlight to better observe exoplanets, providing data on habitability and the prevalence of solar systems like ours.
If the launch does not occur on August 30, NASA and SpaceX will attempt again on August 31 at 7:22 AM Eastern time. The launch will be streamed live on NASA's website and SpaceX's X account. Additionally, NASA will broadcast a mission science briefing on August 29 at 9 AM ET, followed by a prelaunch news conference.