SpaceX to launch NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Aug 30: Time and Full Mission Timeline
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to investigate dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope, named after the Nancy Grace Roman, is set to be launched on Sunday, August 30.
It will be launched by using a huge SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and liftoff is set for 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT) from a NASA pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A launch livestream will begin about one hour before liftoff. Although weather conditions remain 60 percent favorable for the launch, it is also reported a backup window in which the company can try launching the telescope on Monday, August 30 at 7:22 a.m. EDT (1122 GMT).
The launch of the Roman Space Telescope will be broadcast live through multiple streaming options. Nasa’s official webcast starts early Sunday morning at 6:00 am EDT, covering the launch and post-launch briefing.
The broadcast will be available on NASA website and its social channels as well as streaming platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Discovery+, Amazon Prime, and NASA+.
SpaceX will also host its own launch livestream through its X account, which will begin about an hour before liftoff.
Total deployment of the telescope occurs 31 minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff. Speaking about the booster recovery, twin side boosters will separate and land back at Cape Canaveral (LZ-2 and LZ-40) about 7 minutes and 40 seconds after launch.
Solar panels and the sunshade will deploy shortly after liftoff and over the next few days, the antenna and aperture cover will unfold while a mid-course correction burn guides the spacecraft.
The telescope will move towards its destination point which is Lagrange Point 2, a stable point roughly 1 million miles from Earth opposite the sun.
NASA has also planned a three-month phase of deployments, tests and calibrations after the launch and before the telescope’s entry to its final operational orbit.
NASA said in an update Friday, after clearing Roman for launch, "Roman’s deep, sweeping surveys will help investigate dark energy and dark matter, discover and characterize planets beyond our solar system, map billions of galaxies, study black holes and share enormous amounts of data with both scientists and the public.”
