NASA has issued a Request for Information asking commercial companies for ideas to reboost, service, or guide the Hubble Space Telescope to a controlled reentry. The agency released the request on Thursday, and responses are due November 30.
According to the report, Hubble has lost altitude steadily since NASA last raised its orbit in 2002. The observatory now sits about 292 miles (470 km) above Earth. Without intervention, orbital dynamicists predict it will likely reenter the atmosphere in 2033 or 2034, though forecasts can shift with solar activity.
NASA wants information on companies' capabilities to capture Hubble and boost it to at least 373 miles (600 km). The agency wrote that any mission "must not harm the HST" and is expected to occur by 2032. NASA is not committing to buy a rescue mission, and it has no funding currently allocated for one.
The report notes that NASA has tried this before. The agency issued a similar request in 2022 and received eight responses. In 2024, officials decided not to pursue a reboost after reviewing them. Mark Clampin, then head of NASA's astrophysics division, said the servicing plans from billionaire commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman and SpaceX "were really just notional concepts."
The report also cites NASA's 2025 rescue attempt for the Swift telescope. NASA awarded a $30 million contract to Katalyst Space Technologies and gave it nine months. Katalyst launched a rescue satellite by the deadline and got within about 6 miles (10 km) of Swift. Ground teams did not move closer after problems with the satellite's power and reaction control systems.
Isaacman, now NASA administrator, said in an agency statement that "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." In a post on X, he wrote that he expects the new request "will draw interest from robotics companies."