Once again, NASA is asking for ideas to rescue Hubble from certain death

NASA released a Request for Information on Thursday asking commercial companies to propose methods for reboosting, servicing, or controlled disposal of the Hubble Space Telescope. Responses are due November 30. The space agency wants contractors to outline capabilities for capturing Hubble and boosting it to at least 373 miles (600 km) altitude, enhancing its performance, or guiding it to controlled reentry by 2032.

Hubble currently orbits at 292 miles (470 km) above Earth and loses altitude steadily. NASA last reboosted it in 2002 via Space Shuttle Columbia. Without intervention, orbital dynamicists predict the telescope will reenter Earth's atmosphere in 2033 or 2034. A reboost to 373 miles would likely extend Hubble's operational life by at least 25 more years.

This marks NASA's second solicitation for rescue concepts. In 2022, the agency released an RFI that drew eight responses, including a joint proposal from Astroscale and Momentus. Jared Isaacman, then a billionaire commercial astronaut, also approached NASA that year with a crewed servicing mission plan using SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, proposing to reboost Hubble by at least 30 miles. Agency officials announced in 2024 they would not pursue a reboost after reviewing responses. Mark Clampin, head of NASA's astrophysics division at the time, said the servicing plans "were really just notional concepts."

Isaacman is now NASA administrator. The satellite servicing industry has matured since 2022. Northrop Grumman launched an advanced robotic servicing satellite this year in partnership with DARPA. Startups Astroscale and Starfish Space hold servicing and refueling contracts with the US Space Force and NASA.

NASA awarded a $30 million contract to Katalyst Space Technologies last year to rescue the Swift space telescope. Katalyst built and launched a rescue satellite within nine months, reaching within 6 miles of Swift before ground teams halted the approach due to power and reaction control system problems. Isaacman said the new RFI will "draw interest from robotics companies." A crewed mission is unlikely now, as SpaceX aims to retire Crew Dragon by 2030.

NASA currently has no funding allocated for a Hubble reboost or servicing mission.