So NASA and SpaceX could save Hubble. And open up to the on-orbit maintenance business
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To save Hubble you have to move it. The space telescope, in orbit since 1990, continues to work and produce great results, observing with its powerful eye, even after more than three decades in space, remote corners of the Universe, planets, galaxies and cradles of new stars. But without a rescue mission, his fate is sealed. Within a few years, about ten, its orbit could drop too low, making it crash and destroy itself in the atmosphere.
In September 2022, the American Space Agency signed an agreement with SpaceX and the Polaris Program to study how to tow or push Hubble back to its original orbit, 600 kilometers from Earth. On December 22, NASA itself released another “request for information”, in which it asks private companies to propose solutions to “restart a satellite in orbit, using Hubble as a demonstration case, which does not involve costs for the government” .
The agreement with SpaceX and Polaris Program (a company of billionaire Jared Isaacman, the one behind the Inspiration 4 mission, which in 2021 brought the first tourists into space aboard a private capsule) is defined as “non-exclusive” and the intention is clear : explore the commercial capabilities, therefore of private individuals, of “on orbit servicing” (maintenance, repair, refueling, satellite relocation services), a sector that should have vast horizons in the future of the new space economy, now that the number of satellites in orbit it grows every year in the order of thousands.
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The fate of Hubble
The rock star of space telescopes, whose fame has lately been somewhat overshadowed by the James Webb space telescope, had been positioned in low orbit (the initial altitude was 600 km), reachable by the Space Shuttles. But unlike its successor, Hubble doesn’t have a thruster to maneuver and stay steadily at that altitude. And the albeit very tenuous atmosphere slowly drags him down. Now it is located at about 540 kilometers, according to NASA analysis, it will drop to 500 by the end of 2025 and “there is the risk that a rendezvous will be more difficult”. Abandoning it to its fate would mean letting it “deorbit” towards the mid-1930s.
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SpaceX could use its Dragon capsule to dock with Hubble and move it higher, extending its life by another twenty years. But, as already mentioned, NASA is open to other proposals from commercial companies, with a goal that goes far beyond the fate of Hubble. In fact, it is specified that, at least at the moment, conducting or financing a mission to save Hubble is not in the plans. From a project, whether it is implemented or not, however, business opportunities can arise: “This study is an example of the innovative approaches through public-private partnership that NASA is exploring” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission directorate. Hubble and Dragon will therefore be used as a test bed, at least on paper, to boost a new space economy sector.
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Space tow trucks
Again, Hubble is a frontrunner. It is the first space telescope for which post-launch maintenance has been planned, the instrument compartment can be opened to replace components. The first Hubble servicing mission (five in all, using the Shuttles) was that of December 1993. It is known that the space telescope was launched with a defective mirror, which made it somewhat myopic, images of distant galaxies were blurred. It was immediately clear after the launch, and also very embarrassing.
A photo of the first Hubble Space Telescope service mission with a Space Shuttle – Credits: Nasa
In ’93, astronauts went up there and managed to insert lenses that corrected that error. In short, Hubble was a telescope “with glasses”, until 2009, when they were removed as unnecessary after the most recent update, in 2009, when it was raised for the last time. In the 90s, flying into space meant investing monstrous sums that only space agencies (public money) or large companies (such as television networks) could support. Launching a Shuttle, with seven astronauts on board, had a cost that exceeded one and a half billion dollars, according to an estimate by the Center for strategic and international studies. Luckily now things have changed a lot, both in economic terms (from 65,000 dollars per kilo for the Shuttle to 2,600 for SpaceX: 25 times less) and technological possibilities. And NASA is looking for commercial partners who can provide in-orbit maintenance services to satellites in the future, as it has already done, for example, with SpaceX for the transport of astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station, and with the Artemis program.
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Indeed, the future is not that far off. Northrop Grumman’s Mev-1 mission (Mission extension vehicle) moved an Intelsat satellite in 2019, raising its orbit and thus extending its operational life. Swiss startup, Clearspace has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for a prototype sweeper satellite to be launched in 2025, and also with the British space agency, to get rid of dead satellites, orbiting garbage . A “space tow truck” could then service more satellites for the purpose of decommissioning the now defunct ones by crashing them or parking them in graveyard orbits; to clean up the lower orbits that are getting crowded, especially with the advent of mega constellations like Starlink, Kuiper or Oneweb; fill up with fuel or energy; in the more advanced versions a robot-satellite could act as a mechanic to replace defective, worn or obsolete parts, and thus lengthen their life. With the hope that NASA also wants to do it with the glorious Hubble.
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