NASA has asked industry for information about commercial missions that could raise the Hubble Space Telescope’s orbit, service the observatory, or support its eventual controlled reentry. The agency issued the request on October 29, 2026, and described it publicly the following day.
The NASA announcement identifies reboosting, servicing, and orbital disposal as areas for industry responses. Submissions are due by 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 30.
Hubble gradually loses orbital altitude because of atmospheric drag. The telescope has no onboard propulsion system to raise its own orbit. A reboost mission would use another spacecraft to change Hubble’s orbit and extend the time it can remain above the denser atmosphere.
NASA’s current projection places an uncontrolled reentry in 2033 or 2034. The agency identifies 2032 as the point by which an intervention would be needed under that projection.
An Observatory Built for Servicing
Hubble’s operating history includes five shuttle servicing missions. Astronauts replaced equipment, repaired instruments, and installed new scientific capabilities during visits in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2009.
The final visit, Servicing Mission 4, took place in May 2009 aboard space shuttle Atlantis. Astronauts installed Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. They also repaired the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.
The work extended beyond the scientific instruments. The crew replaced batteries, gyroscopes, a fine guidance sensor, and a computer used to control and process instrument data. New insulation supported thermal protection.
Astronauts also installed an attachment device intended to facilitate a future rendezvous and disposal operation. That hardware formed part of the preparations for handling Hubble after its scientific mission.
The new request seeks commercial information about another phase of intervention at the observatory, encompassing operations that could extend its use and arrangements for the end of its orbital life.
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