Space observatories
NASA releases Roman’s international ground-station test results
The September 25 report attributes successful data reception to stations in Japan, the United States and Australia; the tests took place September 7–17.
Updated : Update, September 29, 2026: Adds NASA’s September 25 international ground-station test report to this site’s earlier Roman instrument-checkout coverage. The tests took place September 7–17.
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NASA published a September 25 report declaring ground stations ready for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s future science operations. The tests took place September 7–17.
NASA reported that Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency station at Misasa, Japan, received spacecraft data on September 7, followed by NASA’s White Sands antennas in New Mexico on September 8–11 and the European Space Agency station near New Norcia, Australia, on September 17. The tests reached 500 megabits per second.
The transmitted information included instrument temperatures, power use and preliminary images, NASA reported. The agency plans a daily science downlink of roughly 1.4 terabytes, with science operations expected by early 2027.
The network report follows NASA’s September 15 disclosure that Roman’s Wide Field Instrument had been activated and its Coronagraph Instrument had undergone an initial checkout. NASA described those activities as part of months of calibration and testing, with sharper first science images expected by early 2027.
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The September 25 report attributes successful data reception to stations in Japan, the United States and Australia; the tests took place September 7–17. Read the full report: https://www.spaceexploration.in/news/roman-international-ground-network-tests #SpaceExplorationNews #SpaceNews #SpaceScience
