NASA Announces Coverage Plans for Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Launch

• NASA has scheduled the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for no earlier than 7:26 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 30.
• The observatory will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Designed to investigate dark energy and dark matter, the telescope features a field of view 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope.

Launch Schedule and Coverage

• Saturday, Aug. 29
  • 9 a.m.: Mission Science Briefing.
  • 10:30 a.m.: Prelaunch News Conference.
  • 11:45 a.m.: Flyby of the launch pad (weather permitting).
  • 12 p.m.: In-person media interviews.
• Sunday, Aug. 30
  • 6:20 a.m.: Live launch coverage begins.
  • 7:26 a.m.: Liftoff.
  • 9:30 a.m.: Postlaunch news conference.

Mission Objectives and Deployment

• Following launch, the telescope will travel to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), approximately one million miles from Earth.
• The mission has a five-year primary lifetime, with an operational goal of 10 years.
• All science data collected by the mission will be made publicly available after processing.

Partners and Collaboration

• Managed by NASA Goddard, the project includes participation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech/IPAC, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.
• Primary industrial partners include BAE Systems, L3Harris Technologies, and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging.
• International contributions are provided by ESA, JAXA, the French space agency (CNES), and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.