Summary
The Hubble Space Telescope cannot raise its own orbit. It has no propulsion system to maintain its own orbit, so atmospheric drag is slowly lowering it, and NASA has asked industry for ideas on what to do about it. The agency issued a Request for Information on 29 October 2026 to learn more about industry capabilities for in-space servicing to support Hubble. It seeks commercial interest in boosting the telescope, servicing it or bringing it down in a controlled way. Responses are due by 3 p.m. EST on Monday 30 November 2026. Drag does the rest Like all spacecraft in low Earth orbit, Hubble’s altitude is slowly decreasing over time because of atmospheric drag. Hubble does not have a propulsion system to maintain its own orbit. NASA analysis predicts the telescope is likely to re-enter the atmosphere in the 2033 to 2034 timeframe. That sets the schedule for anything else, because the agency anticipates that a mission would need to take place by 2032. NASA says Hubble “has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe.” The telescope returned to orbit as an improved telescope after its second servicing mission in February 1997. Three options, nothing funded The Request for Information lists three possibilities. One is potentially conducting a mission to boost Hubble to a higher altitude to extend its science lifetime. Another is servicing Hubble to enhance its capabilities. The third is performing a safe, controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, or orbital disposal, at the end of Hubble’s mission. This is a request for information only. NASA’s announcement describes no funded mission and names no selected company. The document will remain open for responses until the November deadline. “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,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “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,” Isaacman said. “Extending Hubble’s life would mean more discoveries, more science, and more opportunities to expand our understanding of the universe.” Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, pointed to recent changes in commercial industry. “Commercial industry has rapidly evolved in recent years to offer new capabilities for in-space satellite capture and servicing,” Fox said. “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.” Fox also called Hubble “a national icon that has fundamentally changed how humanity views our universe for more than 35 years”. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations, and Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA. Sources: