NASA's Roman Telescope Launch Moved to August 2026

NASA moved the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launch to August 30, 2026, eight months earlier than originally planned. The 7.9-foot primary mirror passed final inspection and shake testing at Goddard. The telescope will ship to Kennedy Space Center this month for fueling and encapsulation on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Roman's 100-times-larger field of view than Hubble will study dark energy and exoplanet systems from Sun-Earth L2.