NASA requests industry proposals to save the Hubble Space Telescope

NASA is asking private industry for ideas to help save the Hubble Space Telescope from an uncontrolled re-entry, Space and IFLScience reported. ExecutiveGov added that the agency is seeking commercial input on a potential servicing mission to extend the observatory's operational life beyond 2032. [1][8][10]

Space noted that this is not the first time NASA has evaluated using a robotic spacecraft to assist Hubble. The latest request focuses on finding commercial solutions to boost the telescope's orbit or safely manage its eventual disposal. [1][8][10]

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 as one of NASA's Great Observatories. The uncrewed observatory was designed with modular components that allowed five Space Shuttle missions to repair and upgrade its instruments on orbit. While the Goddard Space Flight Center controls the spacecraft, target selection and data processing are managed by the Space Telescope Science Institute. [11][12]

As FTMQ Space reported earlier, archival Hubble data recently enabled astronomers to detect high levels of niobium around a white dwarf star, suggesting a gas giant planet may have formed after its host star died. NASA is now looking to private sector innovations to ensure the space telescope can continue delivering such astronomical observations in the years ahead. [8][10][13]