NASA asks industry how it could boost, upgrade or safely retire Hubble
With the telescope expected to fall back into the atmosphere in 2033 or 2034, NASA issued a request for information on 29 October. Responses are due on 30 November.
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NASA is asking companies what they could do to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope, or to bring it down safely. The agency issued a request for information (RFI) on 29 October 2026 and announced it the following day.
How this story was sourced.
5 sources from 5 organisations, 1 of them official or primary documents.
Official and primary documents 1
The body that made the decision, the paper, or the organisation’s own release.
News organisations 4
Reports by other newsrooms. Where a story was carried by another outlet, both are named.
- The Register NASA ponders a Hubble servicing mission or a controlled deorbit theregister.com
- NBC News NASA space telescope plunges to Earth after two decades studying cosmic explosions nbcnews.com
- SpaceNews NASA requests information on Hubble reboost options spacenews.com
- Spaceflight Now Despite gyro failure, NASA says Hubble Space Telescope still up to world-class science spaceflightnow.com
The sources as the story lists them
Sources
- NASA: NASA Explores Potential Commercial Servicing for Hubble Telescope
- The Register: NASA ponders a Hubble servicing mission or a controlled deorbit
- NBC News: NASA space telescope plunges to Earth after two decades studying cosmic explosions
- SpaceNews: NASA requests information on Hubble reboost options
- Spaceflight Now: Despite gyro failure, NASA says Hubble Space Telescope still up to world-class science
The story so far. More on Space and Astronomy.
- NASA's Swift observatory falls to Earth after failed rescue attempt The gamma-ray observatory re-entered over northern Sumatra on 4 November, almost 22 years after launch, after a commercial mission to raise its orbit was called off.
- Voyager 1 will be one light-day from Earth on 18 November: what that means NASA's most distant spacecraft is about to sit so far away that a radio signal takes a full day to reach it, weeks after a brief loss of contact and a power-saving overhaul.
- ESA's Hera probe sees the asteroid DART struck as a separate object for the first time Europe's planetary-defence spacecraft resolved Didymos and its small moon Dimorphos from about 1,280 km away, and ESA plans to release the first detailed images of Dimorphos on 25 November.
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