SpaceX and NASA are looking at how to extend the life of the Hubble telescope

The US space agency (NASA) and SpaceX will study whether it is possible to extend the life of the historic Hubble Space Telescope by 15-20 years, using a Dragon-type spacecraft of the latter to put the telescope into a higher orbit.

Since Hubble was launched in 1990, it has been gradually falling toward Earth due to its pull from Earth’s upper atmosphere. In the past, periodic corrections to its orbit were made by US space shuttles, but the last time this was done was in 2009, and since then the telescope has been sinking slowly but steadily.

The new NASA-SpaceX deal aims to halt this self-destructive downward spiral. While Hubble was originally 615 kilometers from Earth’s surface, it has now dropped below 540 kilometers. Nevertheless, it continues to operate as normal and will continue until at least the end of the current decade or the beginning of the next. But then, if nothing is done, it will inevitably end up in some ocean sometime in the late 2030s.

Under study, which will last six months, is now whether a – possibly unmanned but robotic – SpaceX Dragon spacecraft can safely dock with Hubble and push it into a higher orbit, again above 600 kilometers, so that it provide up to two more decades of operational life. Once the study is complete, NASA will decide whether to actually begin planning a telescope life extension operation.

The Crew Dragon capsule has so far been used to transport NASA astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. Among other things, it will be examined whether the capsule needs modifications to carry out its delicate mission to Hubble.

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