Overview
- Roman, which is scheduled to launch Sunday, Aug. 30, will lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy and begin a roughly one‑month transit to Sun–Earth L2.
- After arrival the spacecraft will undergo about 100 days of commissioning to deploy its sunshield, align optics and activate instruments before routine science operations begin.
- The mission’s Wide Field Instrument is a 300‑megapixel near‑infrared camera that offers Hubble‑quality sharpness over a field about 100 times larger and will drive Roman’s galaxy and exoplanet surveys.
- A coronagraph on board will run a technology demonstration to suppress starlight and test techniques needed for future direct imaging of exoplanets.
- Roman will produce roughly 1–1.4 terabytes of public data per day, begin releasing first images in early 2027, and is planned as a five‑year prime mission with a reported lifecycle cost near $4.3 billion.