NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
What Happened
SpaceX has set liftoff for 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT) on the Roman mission, with deployment of the telescope expected approximately 31 minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff. A backup launch opportunity exists on Monday, Aug. 31 at 7:22 a.m. EDT (1122 GMT). The Falcon Heavy's twin side boosters are previously flown hardware from the GOES-U and Viasat-3 F3 missions, marking their first and third flights respectively. Following stage separation, both side boosters will attempt landings at SpaceX's Landing Zones 2 and 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Unlike some Falcon Heavy missions, no core booster landing is planned for this flight.
Why It Matters
Roman represents NASA's next great observatory and will conduct deep, sweeping surveys to investigate dark energy and dark matter, discover exoplanets, map billions of galaxies, and study black holes. The mission marks one of the most significant scientific payloads SpaceX has launched for NASA, continuing the partnership between the space agency and commercial launch providers. For astronomers and researchers, successful deployment is critical; for SpaceX, it demonstrates continued reliability in launching complex interplanetary-class spacecraft.
The Bottom Line
NASA cleared Roman for launch on Friday, Aug. 28. Live coverage will begin around 6:20 a.m. EDT via NASA's website and channels including YouTube, Twitch, and NASA+. SpaceX will host its own livestream on X beginning approximately one hour before liftoff.