NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman leads a flight of his personally owned F-5 Tiger II aircraft on a flyby of Launch Complex 39A where a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the agency's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, encapsulated in a protective payload fairing, is undergoing final launch preparations, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than 7:26 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 30.
Photographer NASA/Clayton Rougelot
Album SpaceX_Roman_Space_Telescope
Location KSC
Date August 29, 2026
John F Kennedy Space CenterKennedyKennedy Space CenterKSCSpaceportCape CanaveralNASArocket ranchFloridamulti-user spaceportpremier spaceportspace coastcapeNancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeRomanRSTPayload Hazardous Servicing FacilityPHSFKSCKennedy Space CenterLSPLaunch Services ProgramastrophysicssciencelaunchbroadcastSpaceXFalcon HeavyLaunch Complex 39ALC-39Arocket