NASA SEEKS COMMERCIAL OPTIONS FOR HUBBLE TELESCOPE

NASA issued a request for information on 29 October to assess whether commercial operators could service the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA is seeking proposals for raising Hubble’s orbit, improving its capabilities or arranging its controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its mission. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said: “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.” The request seeks information about industry capabilities; NASA has not announced a servicing mission. Interested organisations can respond until 3pm EST on Monday 30 November.

Atmospheric drag is gradually lowering Hubble’s orbit, and the telescope has no propulsion system to maintain its altitude. NASA’s analysis places its likely re-entry in 2033 or 2034. NASA has also estimated a 10% chance of re-entry by September 2032 and a 50% chance by December 2033. Astronauts last serviced Hubble during the STS-125 Space Shuttle mission, launched on 11 May 2009. NASA’s request includes an option to raise the telescope’s orbit to at least 600 kilometres.

Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said commercial capabilities for capturing and servicing satellites have developed in recent years. Fox said NASA wants to explore ways to raise Hubble’s orbit while it develops a successor mission. NASA does not expect the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a potential successor, to become operational before the 2040s. The agency is also seeking information on how a commercial vehicle could safely dispose of Hubble if its mission ends. NASA’s request will inform its assessment of those options.