Half of NASA's nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope has just passed a long test to ensure it works properly in space. This milestone led the Romans to launch their targets on the May 2027 target, which was the earliest for the fall of 2026.

"This milestone allowed us to raise the Flying Solar Array Shield and attach the deployable aperture cover to the external barrel assembly, which we will start this month," Jack Marshall said. "We will then complete the remaining Flying Component Environmental Test before continuing to connect two of Rome's main components and run the full observatory through the test, and then we're ready to start!"

Before thermal testing, technicians integrate Rome-deployable hole covers (like sunshades like a visor-like sunshade) into the outer barrel assembly, which will house the telescope and instruments in January, and then add test solar panels in March. They moved the entire structure to the space environment simulator test room at NASA Goddard in April.

There, it will be subject to the heat and cold temperatures it will experience in space. Next, technicians will join the Roman flying solar panels to go to the outer barrels and sunshades. The structure will then perform a series of evaluations, including shaking tests, to ensure it can withstand the vibrations experienced during the launch.

Meanwhile, another major part of Rome - a spacecraft composed of telescopes, instrument carriers and two instruments and a comprehensive payload assembly will perform its own milkshake tests and perform other evaluations. The technician will install lower instrument shades and place this half of the observatory through a thermal vacuum test in the space environment simulator.

"Tests prove that even if the sun bakes one side of the observatory and the other is exposed to freezing conditions, these instruments will remain at a stable operating temperature, all in a vacuum where heat does not flow as easily as air. Keeping the instrument's temperature stable ensures that its readings will be accurate and reliable.

The technicians are expected to connect two major parts of Rome in November, thus making a complete observation by the end of the year. After the final test, Rome is expected to be shipped to the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the summer of 2026 for launch preparations. The Romans are still scheduled to launch in May 2027, and the team aims to be back in the fall of 2026.

To almost visit the interactive version of the telescope, visit:

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is at the Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) in Greenbelt, Maryland, with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. California Institute of Technology/IPAC in Pasadena, California; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and a scientific team of scientists from various research institutions. Junior industrial partners are BAE Systems Inc. of Boulder, Colorado; L3 Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California.

Ashley Balzer
NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, MD.

Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
301-286-1940