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[TECHNOLOGY] · United States, Japan · 10 sources

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NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope set for August 30 launch

NASA is preparing to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, with liftoff targeted for August 30, 2026, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will utilize a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to transport the 18,000-pound observatory to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), located approximately one million miles from Earth.

Designed as a next-generation wide-field observatory, the telescope features a 2.4-meter primary mirror and a 300-megapixel camera. Its field of view is at least 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing it to conduct sweeping surveys of the cosmos. The mission's primary scientific objectives include investigating dark energy, dark matter, mapping billions of galaxies, and characterizing exoplanets.

Technologically, the telescope's primary mirror was originally developed under the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Future Imagery Architecture program for reconnaissance satellites before being donated to NASA. The project is currently reported to be ahead of schedule and under budget.

Entities

Kennedy Space Center · NASA · Nancy Grace Roman · Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope · National Reconnaissance Office · Pentagon · SpaceX

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