Roman Space Telescope reaches Kennedy Space Center for August launch

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 21 June 2026 after completing tests at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and being shipped on a Pegasus barge. The spacecraft is eight months ahead of its original schedule.

NASA now targets a launch no earlier than 30 August 2026 using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A. At KSC the telescope will undergo final integration and testing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, including checks of its solar panels, thermal blankets and loading of roughly 290 gallons of hydrazine fuel. After launch the observatory will travel to the Sun‑Earth L2 point, where it will conduct five‑year surveys of dark energy, exoplanets and billions of galaxies with its 2.4‑metre primary mirror and wide‑field infrared instrument.