On Nov. 25, engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center successfully joined the two main segments of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, officially completing the construction of an observatory designed to help scientists study dark energy and hunt for alien worlds.
While the mission is formally scheduled to launch by May 2027, the project has been running ahead of schedule. In June, Roman mission office head Kristen McQuinn said at the American Astronomical Society’s summer meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, that Roman was 90 percent complete and on track for a launch as early as October 2026. A Dec. 4 NASA press release reiterated that timeline, citing a potential liftoff in fall of 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
“Completing the Roman observatory brings us to a defining moment for the agency,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA Associate Administrator. “As Roman moves into its final stage of testing following integration, we are focused on executing with precision and preparing for a successful launch on behalf of the global scientific community.”
A trio of surveys
Roman’s 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument boasts a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble’s, allowing it to capture vast panoramas of the universe…