SpaceX And NASA Will Study The Possibility Of Flying The Dragon Spacecraft To The Hubble Telescope 

SpaceX is exploring the possibility of reaching Hubble with a new service mission to raise its orbit and extend its lifespan. This was announced at the conference by the leaders of NASA, SpaceX and the Hubble project.

On September 22, NASA and SpaceX, in partnership with the Polaris program, signed a non-government-funded agreement to conduct studies lasting about six months for the possibility of rendezvous and docking of the Dragon spacecraft (crewed or uncrewed) with a telescope for repair or orbit raising. There is no talk of SpaceX or NASA right now developing a project to repair and raise the Hubble orbit.

Initially, the telescope was launched into an orbit with a height of 600 kilometers, at present it is 540 kilometers. If the orbit is not lifted, then the telescope will work for no more than 10 years, after which it will de-orbit and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. But if the orbit increases, then the telescope can be operational for another 15-20 years, provided that critical systems do not fail.

For SpaceX this study will test whether the company can work with space technologies that have been developed with its participation.