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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope blog is NASA's hub for the mission's launch updates, where all are invited for behind-the-scenes looks on Roman's road to launch and beyond. This flagship mission’s vast, deep surveys will help astronomers explore dark matter, dark energy, exoplanets, and almost anything from our own solar system to galaxies at the edge of the observable universe. Follow along to join in on the excitement!

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Telescope Milestone: Teams Check Out NASA Roman Solar Panels

A technician wearing clean room garments and blue gloves inspects a square panel of shiny thermal tiles on NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, using a flashlight to check the surface. The reflective tile contrasts with the surrounding darker tiles and nearby white sensor housings.
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 the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

The solar panels that will help power NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope completed prelaunch cleaning and inspections July 8 at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Engineers and technicians are following necessary procedures to protect Roman from tiny debris, dust, or other material so that it operates optimally in space about one million miles away from Earth, or four times the distance to the Moon.

Collectively called the Solar Array Sun Shield, each of the six panels is about 7 by 10 feet (2.1 by 3 meters), designed, built, and installed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Two technicians in clean room garments stand on a red aerial lift inspecting the tall, dark‑tiled exterior of a spacecraft inside a high bay at Kennedy Space Center.
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 the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya

Roman will orbit at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), the same orbit as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The solar array panels will extend to continuously face the Sun during rotation, providing 4,100 watts to power the telescope as it gathers important data about planets outside our solar system and other fundamental mysteries about how the universe works. The observatory is designed to survey objects in our outer solar system, study exploding stars, and understand growing black holes and galaxies. Once processed, Roman’s data will be made publicly available so research teams can analyze it simultaneously.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.

For a virtual tour of the telescope, visit NASA’s Roman interactive.

To learn more about the Roman mission, visit:

www.nasa.gov/roman