NASA's Roman Telescope Ready for Launch

NASA's next great observatory is ready to be launched! The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, or Roman for short, is scheduled to launch this September 2026. That is nearly eight months ahead of schedule, and under budget. In its final years of construction, the observatory underwent rigorous environmental tests designed to prove it can withstand the journey from Earth to space. These environmental tests included blasting the telescope with the intense sound of a rocket launch, vibrating the observatory while enclosed in a protective tent, and placing it inside a thermal vacuum chamber where it was cooled to the extreme operating temperatures of space. Each of these tests proved Roman's worthiness for early flight and is a testament to the hard work from the entire team. It will join a fleet of other powerful observatories already in space, like Euclid and JWST. Roman will have a resolving power similar to Hubble, but with a field of view over 100 times larger. Credit: NASA