2026-08-28T23:33:38.793Z Roman is ready for release! The three first-stage boosters of the Falcon Heavy rocket that will launch NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on August 30, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is officially “ready” for launch! NASA made the announcement this afternoon (August 28), after concluding the mission’s Launch Readiness Review at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. SpaceX was part of that review, because Roman will take off on one of the company’s Falcon Heavy rockets. Launch is scheduled for Sunday (August 30) at 7:26 a.m. EDT (11:26 GMT) from KSC’s Launch Complex-39A. You’ll be able to watch it all live here on Space.com when the time comes. 2026-08-28T15:39:50.705Z T-2 days until Roman launches into space (Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio) We are now less than 48 hours away from the scheduled launch of NASA’s Roman Space Telescope. Liftoff from Launch Complex-39A is scheduled for Sunday (August 30) at 7:26 a.m. EDT (11:26 GMT). A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will carry Roman to Earth-Sun Lagrange point 2, a stationary sweet spot about 930,000 miles away that will keep the satellite in a persistent orbit on the side of Earth opposite the sun. Sunday morning weather is leaning toward favorable launch conditions, with a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms during 7 a.m. (1100 GMT). Clouds and lightning will be the main weather concerns, but conditions are expected to deteriorate further later in the day, giving Roman’s early morning attempt a better chance of getting off the ground. If weather conditions worsen or Sunday’s launch is delayed, another window opens on Monday (August 31) at 7:22 a.m. EDT (1122 GMT). 2026-08-26T18:09:48.905Z SpaceX shows off Roman’s Falcon Heavy rocket ride The three first-stage boosters of the Falcon Heavy rocket that will launch NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman space telescope on August 30, 2026. SpaceX shared this photo via X on August 26. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX just gave us a good look at the rocket that will take NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to the final frontier this weekend. That launcher is a Falcon Heavy, whose first stage consists of three modified and bonded Falcon 9 boosters. In an X post today (August 26), SpaceX showed off that trio, which is currently in the launch pad 39A hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to launch Roman, which will search for exoplanets and shed light on mysterious dark matter and energy, from Pad 39A on Sunday (August 30) at 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT). You can watch the long-awaited liftoff here on Space.com. 2026-08-26T10:40:52.661Z Roman arrives at SpaceX hangar before launch NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, encapsulated in its payload fairing, travels from the Hazardous Payload Maintenance Facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, before docking with a SpaceX Falcon rocket Heavy. (Image credit: Sydney Rohde (Rocz)) Roman is one step closer to space! NASA transported the new space telescope inside the fairing of its rocket from the Kennedy Space Center’s Hazardous Payload Servicing Facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex-39A (LC-39A). The trip occurred during the night of August 25, traveling in a caravan of vehicles towards one of his last land destinations. Roman and its protective fairings will then be attached to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket and undergo final testing and fit checks before heading out to the launch pad. NASA and SpaceX will hold a launch readiness review panel on Friday (Aug. 28) to make a final determination on launch readiness. If all goes as planned, liftoff will head toward the target scheduled for 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT) on Sunday (Aug. 30). Josh Dinner Social Links Navigation Space Flight Writer 2026-08-24T19:36:17.008Z SpaceX seals Roman inside the Falcon’s heavy fairing ahead of the August 30 launch (Image credit: SpaceX) NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one step closer to launch. SpaceX sealed the bus-sized observatory inside the payload fairing of its Falcon Heavy rocket, the company announced today (Aug. 24). Everything remains on track for Roman to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Sunday morning (August 30). After launch, it will take Roman about 30 days to reach its distant destination: the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, which is about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth heading toward Mars. After a test period of about three months, the telescope will begin observing the skies, searching for exoplanets and shedding light on dark matter and energy, among other tasks. 2026-08-24T11:45:15.308Z NASA’s next big space telescope is almost ready to leave Earth. (Image credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)) Roman has spent the last few weeks making final launch preparations at KSC. Technicians loaded the observatory with 290 gallons (1,100 liters) of hydrazine fuel on July 25 and then connected it to its payload adapter in early August. Roman was recently encapsulated within the payload fairing of the Falcon Heavy and underwent a full dress rehearsal on launch day on August 20. Mission managers from NASA, SpaceX and Roman completed the Mission Flight Readiness Review on August 21, formally authorizing the observatory to begin its final preparations for launch. The telescope, encapsulated in its payload fairings, will then be transported to the SpaceX hangar on LC-39A, where it will be attached to the Falcon Heavy rocket before it moves to the pad for launch later this week. Josh Dinner Social Links Navigation Space Flight Editor
