The observatory is approximately 90% complete, with the final phases of assembly and testing scheduled to ensure it is ready several months before the May 2027 launch deadline.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is currently in the System Assembly, Integration, and Test phase at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, with final assembly and testing planned to ensure it is ready for launch in May 2027.

In mid-June 2025, technicians installed the telescope's Solar Array Sun Shield, which includes six solar panels designed to power the observatory during its mission.

Once operational, the Roman Space Telescope will collaborate with the James Webb Space Telescope to enhance studies of exoplanets and deepen our understanding of cosmic history.

Testing activities have included deploying the solar panels and aperture cover, assessing core electronics, and conducting thermal vacuum tests to prepare the telescope for space.

Integration of the telescope's inner and outer sections is expected to be completed by November 2025, with a potential launch as early as fall 2026.

Set to launch in 2027, the Roman Space Telescope will feature a 2.4-meter mirror and a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble's, succeeding the Hubble mission.

The sun shield will also serve to keep the telescope's instruments cool by blocking external heat, a vital feature for infrared astronomy.

Named after NASA's first Chief of Astronomy, Nancy Grace Roman, the telescope aims to explore exoplanets, distant galaxies, and the expansion of the Universe, contributing significantly to research on Dark Energy and the search for extraterrestrial life.