Hubble: NASA asks industry how to lift its sinking orbit
· BehindLines newsroom
NASA is asking private companies how the Hubble Space Telescope's slowly falling orbit could be dealt with. According to the agency, a mission would need to take place by 2032, but nothing has been decided or approved so far.
According to NASA's page on the subject, the agency issued a Request for Information on 29 October 2026 to gauge industry capabilities for in-space servicing. It lists three possibilities: raising Hubble's orbit to extend its science life, servicing it to improve its capabilities, or performing a controlled re-entry or orbital disposal at the end of its mission. Responses are due by 3 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, 30 November.
Hubble has no propulsion system to maintain its altitude. Residual atmospheric drag gradually lowers its orbit. Based on the analysis cited by NASA, the telescope would re-enter the atmosphere between 2033 and 2034. Launched in 1990, it is a joint project with the European Space Agency; Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland oversees the mission, and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore runs its science operations.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says Hubble "still has important science ahead of it". Nicky Fox, who heads the agency's Science Mission Directorate, points out that industry has developed new capabilities for capturing and servicing satellites. The agency stresses that the options are being explored, not approved. ScienceDaily republished the release on 4 November.
What remains unknown: the costs, the funding, the design of any mission, the target orbit, the exact re-entry date, and how many companies will respond.