NASA's next great space telescope is due to launch. See photos

A sign outside NASA's Kennedy Space Center promotes the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which arrived in June to prepare for an upcoming launch. With a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble's, the telescope willobserve the cosmos, study dark energy and potentially discover exoplanets outside our solar system.

Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida use a crane to lift the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to a specialized work stand June 26, 2026.

Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida clean and inspect the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) on July 14, 2026 on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope pictured on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida had carefully mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads.

Illustration of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in space.

Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida clean and inspect the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) on July 9, 2026 on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Members of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope propellant, safety, and quality assurance team pose for a photo on Monday July 20, 2026, prior to technicians loading propellant into the observatory.

Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida rotate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to vertical on June 25, 2026, using precision handling hardware.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is unloaded June 21 from NASA’s transport Pegasus barge. The telescope arrived at the Kennedy Space Center is be prepared for launch aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is photographed after encapsulation inside its payload fairing Aug. 24 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA observatory designed to settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. Roman’s barrel-like shape will help block out unwanted light from the sun, Earth, and moon, and the spacecraft’s distant location will help keep the instruments cool.