NASA asks industry for plans to save Hubble: uncontrolled reentry risk 30 times the limit

NASA on October 29 asked industry for proposals to raise the Hubble Space Telescope's orbit or bring it down safely, Tech Times reports. Responses are due by November 30.

Hubble is now in an orbit of about 470 to 475 kilometres, and NASA is seeking options to boost it to about 600 kilometres, with a mission launched by 2032. An uncontrolled reentry around 2033 carries an estimated one-in-330 chance of a casualty, about 30 times NASA's one-in-10,000 standard.

"Hubble still has important science ahead of it," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.