NASA and SpaceX signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement Thursday, Sept. 22,
to study the feasibility of a SpaceX and Polaris Program idea to boost the
agency’s Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit with the Dragon
spacecraft, at no cost to the government.
There are no plans for NASA to conduct or fund a servicing mission or
compete this opportunity; the study is designed to help the agency
understand the commercial possibilities.
SpaceX – in partnership with the Polaris Program – proposed this study to
better understand the technical challenges associated with servicing
missions. This study is non-exclusive, and other companies may propose
similar studies with different rockets or spacecraft as their model.
Teams expect the study to take up to six months, collecting technical data
from both Hubble and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. This data will help
determine whether it would be possible to safely rendezvous, dock, and move
the telescope into a more stable orbit.
“This study is an exciting example of the innovative approaches NASA is
exploring through private-public partnerships,” said Thomas Zurbuchen,
associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. “As our fleet grows, we want to explore a wide
range of opportunities to support the most robust, superlative science
missions possible.”
While Hubble and Dragon will serve as test models for this study, portions
of the mission concept may be applicable to other spacecraft, particularly
those in near-Earth orbit like Hubble.
Hubble has been operating since 1990, about 335 miles above Earth in an
orbit that is slowly decaying over time. Reboosting Hubble into a higher,
more stable orbit could add multiple years of operations to its life.
At the end of its lifetime, NASA plans to safely de-orbit or dispose of
Hubble.
“SpaceX and the Polaris Program want to expand the boundaries of current
technology and explore how commercial partnerships can creatively solve
challenging, complex problems,” said Jessica Jensen, vice president of
Customer Operations & Integration at SpaceX. “Missions such as servicing
Hubble would help us expand space capabilities to ultimately help all of us
achieve our goals of becoming a space-faring, multiplanetary civilization.”
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