NASA seeks commercial options for servicing Hubble

NASA issued a Request for Information on Oct. 29 to learn about industry capabilities for in-space servicing that could support the Hubble Space Telescope. The agency is seeking commercial interest in missions that could boost Hubble, service it or dispose of it safely.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Hubble still has important science ahead of it and that the agency should explore every reasonable opportunity to keep it delivering for as long as possible. He said NASA should explore innovative and cost-effective ways to extend the life of an asset already on orbit.

Extending Hubble’s life would mean more discoveries, more science and more opportunities to expand humanity’s understanding of the universe, Isaacman said. He said the work could benefit the American taxpayer and the scientific community.

Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said commercial industry has rapidly evolved to offer new capabilities for in-space satellite capture and servicing. NASA said it was eager to explore possibilities for boosting Hubble to a higher orbit while developing the flagship mission to follow.

The Request for Information will remain open for responses until 3 p.m. EST, Monday, Nov. 30. NASA said Hubble’s altitude is slowly decreasing because of atmospheric drag and that it does not have a propulsion system to maintain its orbit. Analysis predicts Hubble is likely to re-enter the atmosphere in the 2033 to 2034 timeframe, so NASA anticipates a mission would need to take place by 2032.

NASA said Hubble has operated for more than three decades and continues to make discoveries. The telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space also supports mission operations at Goddard, while the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.