NASA is asking private space companies to pitch ideas for keeping the Hubble Space Telescope alive deep into the next decade, opening the door to the kind of commercial servicing mission the agency has resisted for years.
The agency issued a request for information on Oct. 29 asking industry to describe what it could do to boost Hubble into a higher orbit, upgrade its instruments, or guide it through a safe, controlled re-entry once its mission finally ends. Responses are due by 3 p.m. EST on Nov. 30.
"Hubble still has important science ahead of it, and we should be looking at every reasonable opportunity to keep it delivering for as long as possible," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in the announcement. "If there are innovative and cost-effective ways to extend the life of an asset already on orbit, we owe it to the American taxpayer and the scientific community to explore them."
A Telescope on a Slow Fall
Launched in 1990 and serviced five times by astronauts through 2009, Hubble carries no propulsion system of its own. Atmospheric drag has been pulling its orbit lower for years, and NASA's latest analysis puts an uncontrolled re-entry sometime in the 2033-to-2034 window — meaning any rescue mission would need to fly by around 2032.
This isn't NASA's first look at outside help. A 2022 request for information drew eight industry responses, including a joint pitch from Astroscale and Momentus, and a privately funded feasibility study SpaceX ran with backing from Isaacman, then a civilian supporter of the Polaris astronaut program and now the agency's own administrator. NASA ultimately shelved a reboost mission at the time, citing the difficulty of docking with a spacecraft never designed to be grabbed by another vehicle.
Isaacman's move from private backer to NASA's top official puts a longtime advocate for extending Hubble's life in charge of deciding whether to finally act on one. Nicky Fox, the agency's associate administrator for science, framed the new request as a recognition of how far commercial capability has come since the last attempt.
"Hubble is a national icon that has fundamentally changed how humanity views our universe for more than 35 years," Fox said. "Commercial industry has rapidly evolved in recent years to offer new capabilities for in-space satellite capture and servicing. Given the time we have until Hubble's anticipated re-entry, we are eager to explore the breadth of possibilities to boost Hubble to a higher orbit while we develop the flagship mission to follow."
Hubble remains scientifically active alongside the newer James Webb Space Telescope, observing in visible and ultraviolet light that Webb's infrared instruments don't cover. NASA says any servicing concept would need to work around a telescope whose instruments and grapple points were engineered for shuttle-era astronauts, not autonomous robotic craft. The agency has set no deadline for deciding whether to proceed, but a decision would need to come years before Hubble's orbit decays past the point of rescue.
