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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

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1. What we know so far
2. As of 20 October 2026, Roman was still on its way to the Sun-Earth L2 region, with arrival expected in early December 2026.
3. As of October 2026, NASA expected Roman's first science images by early 2027.
4. On 14 October 2026, NASA reported that it had checked out the Wide Field Instrument and sharpened the telescope's focus.
5. On 30 September 2026, NASA announced a successful test of Roman's guidance system and the Coronagraph's first observation.
6. On 17 September 2026, Gizmodo reported that NASA had released test images showing the first starlight to reach the Wide Field Instrument's detector.
7. On 15 September 2026, NASA confirmed that the Wide Field Instrument was active; the Coronagraph Instrument had been powered on before it.
8. On 14 September 2026, NASA announced that Roman had enough fuel for at least 22 years of scientific operations.
9. On 30 August 2026, Roman launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center.
10. Known for: Wide-field visible and near-infrared imaging, and a coronagraph technology demonstration for exoplanets
11. Space agency: NASA
12. Launch: Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center on 30 August 2026
13. Planned primary mission: Five years
14. Wide Field Instrument: 300.8-megapixel camera (Wikipedia's figure) covering 0.48 to 2.30 micrometers
15. Coronagraph Instrument: Designed to image and study exoplanets as close as 0.15 arcseconds to their host stars
16. Expected arrival: Sun-Earth L2 halo orbit, early December 2026
17. Development cost: US$3.2 billion (estimate at approval)
18. Design and instruments
19. Roman is a NASA infrared space observatory named for Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief of astronomy. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the mission, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, developed the Coronagraph Instrument. The telescope's optics are built around a 2.4-meter three-mirror anastigmat, assembled from hardware that the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office donated and Harris Corporation manufactured.
20. Roman carries two instruments. The Wide Field Instrument is a visible and near-infrared camera covering wavelengths from 0.48 to 2.30 micrometers. Sources differ on the size of its detector: Wikipedia gives 300.8 megapixels, NASASpaceFlight.com 288 megapixels. Its field of view covers 0.28 square degrees, about 100 times the area of Hubble's imaging cameras. The Coronagraph Instrument is designed to suppress starlight and so demonstrate direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets as close as 0.15 arcseconds to their host stars. It is intended as a technology demonstrator for a future coronagraph on the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
21. A field of view beside Hubble's NASA Goddard's animation of the Wide Field Instrument, from its comparison of Roman's field of view with Hubble's.
22. Development and launch
23. Roman began as WFIRST, which the National Research Council's 2010 Decadal Survey placed at the top of its priority list for United States astronomy. In 2012 the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office offered NASA two surplus 2.4-meter telescopes built by Harris Corporation, and one was chosen for the project. On 17 February 2016, NASA cleared WFIRST to advance from study to project formulation. It approved the project for implementation on 2 March 2020, estimating development costs at US$3.2 billion within a total cost ceiling of US$3.934 billion that covered five years of operations.
24. On 20 May 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that WFIRST would be renamed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The project passed its Critical Design Review on 29 September 2021. On 19 July 2022, NASA awarded SpaceX a Falcon Heavy launch contract, at a launch cost of about US$255 million, that required readiness by October 2026. On 25 April 2025 the White House Office of Management and Budget proposed canceling the telescope, but the revised budget released on 31 May 2025 did not include the cancellation.
25. The satellite bus was substantially complete in September 2024, and the telescope completed a major spin test in October 2024. In December 2024, the Wide Field Instrument and the Coronagraph Instrument were integrated onto the instrument carrier. Construction was completed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on 25 November 2025, and the finished telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center on 21 June 2026.
26. Roman lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 11:26 UTC on 30 August 2026. Both side boosters landed at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Landing Zones 2 and 40, while the center core was expended. About 31 minutes after launch, the telescope separated from the rocket's second stage and began its 1.5-million-kilometer journey to L2.
27. Roman launches on Falcon Heavy NASA's recap of the launch from Kennedy Space Center, 30 August 2026, from the final countdown and liftoff.
28. Commissioning
29. On 31 August 2026, Roman executed its first mid-course correction, a burn of about three minutes that refined its trajectory toward L2. By 25 September 2026, all planned ground stations were receiving its data, including stations operated by the European Space Agency in Australia, by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and by NASA's Near Space Network in New Mexico.
30. The instruments came online in stages. NASA confirmed on 15 September 2026 that the Wide Field Instrument was active, about two weeks after the Coronagraph Instrument had been powered on. On 30 September 2026, NASA reported a successful test of the guidance system and the Coronagraph's first observation. On 14 October 2026, it reported that the Wide Field Instrument had been checked out and the telescope's focus sharpened. The measured wavefront error was 63 nanometers RMS, lower than the expected 90 nanometers RMS.
31. Roman is expected to reach its Sun-Earth L2 halo orbit about 100 days after launch, in early December 2026, following a planned 90-day commissioning phase. NASA expects the first science images by early 2027. As of 20 October 2026, Roman had not yet begun its planned science surveys.
32. Science goals
33. The Wide Field Instrument is built for wide-field surveys in visible and near-infrared light. Its planned survey program is intended to address questions about the expansion history of the universe, including the nature of dark energy. The same instrument is designed to study large numbers of galaxies and stars across a broad field.
34. What Roman was built to answer NASA's launch recap: the mission team on the questions Roman was designed to settle, from exoplanets to dark matter and dark energy.
35. The Coronagraph Instrument is designed to demonstrate the starlight suppression needed for direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets that lie about 0.15 arcseconds or more from their host stars. NASA describes it as a technology demonstrator for a future coronagraph on the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Roman's planned primary mission lasts five years. Its fuel allows for far longer: on 14 September 2026, NASA reported that the spacecraft had enough for at least 22 years of scientific operations.
36. Timeline
37. 2010: The National Research Council Decadal Survey recommended WFIRST as the top priority for U.S. astronomy.
38. 2012: The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office offered NASA two surplus 2.4-meter telescopes, one of which was selected for Roman.
39. 2016-02-17: NASA approved Roman, then WFIRST, to proceed from study to project formulation.
40. 2020-03-02: NASA approved Roman to proceed to implementation and cited a US$3.2 billion expected development cost.
41. 2020-05-20: NASA announced that WFIRST would be renamed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
42. 2022-07-19: NASA awarded SpaceX a Falcon Heavy launch contract for Roman.
43. 2025-11-25: Construction of the Roman telescope was completed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
44. 2026-06-21: The completed Roman telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center for launch processing.
45. 2026-08-30: Roman launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center and was deployed about 31 minutes later.
46. 2026-09-14: NASA announced that Roman had enough fuel for at least 22 years of scientific operations.
47. 2026-09-30: NASA reported successful testing of Roman's guidance system and the Coronagraph's first observation.
48. 2026-10-14: NASA reported that Roman's Wide Field Instrument had been checked out and its telescope focus had been sharpened.

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