NASA’s Roman Space Telescope ‘Go’ for Launch

28 Aug 2026

 

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is “go” for launch following completion of the agency and SpaceX’s Launch Readiness Review Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Launch Readiness Review is the final review before proceeding into launch countdown. It confirms if Falcon Heavy, the Roman observatory, weather, and supporting teams are ready for liftoff.

Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 Weather Squadron are predicting a 60% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch, which is targeted for 7:26 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 30 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.

This will be the sixth NASA primary mission with SpaceX to launch on a Falcon rocket from Kennedy, after IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), Psyche, NOAA’s GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U), Europa Clipper, and IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe).

Roman’s deep, sweeping surveys will help investigate dark energy and dark matter, discover and characterize planets beyond our solar system, map billions of galaxies, study black holes, and share enormous amounts of data with both scientists and the public.

 

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Teams continue launch preparations on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy that will launch NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, inside the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026.

 

source: 
U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration