NASA and SpaceX have agreed to study the feasibility of awarding Elon Musk's company a contract to boost the Hubble Space Telescope to a higher orbit, with a goal of extending its lifespan, the US space agency said Thursday.
The renowned observatory has been operating since 1990 about 335 miles above Earth, in an orbit that slowly decays over time.
He stressed there are no concrete plans at present to conduct or fund such a mission until the technical challenges are better understood. SpaceX proposed the idea in partnership with the Polaris Program, a private human spaceflight venture led by payments billionaire Jared Isaacman, who last year chartered a SpaceX Crew Dragon to orbit the Earth with three other private astronauts.
Asked by a reporter whether there might be a perception that the mission was contrived in order to give wealthy people tasks to do in space, Zurbuchen said:"I think it's only appropriate for us to look at this because of the tremendous value this research asset has for us."
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