Astroscale and Momentus submitted a response to NASA's Request for Information (RFI) on raising the orbit of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble has been slowly descending since 2009, and there is a 50% chance it will re-enter by 2037, according to NASA's estimates.

The proposal entails Momentus' orbital service vehicle approaching the Hubble and being attached to it using Astroscale technology. The vehicle will then boost the Hubble by 50 kilometers before undocking.

The RFI comes three months after NASA signed a Space Act Agreement with SpaceX for a Hubble reboost mission. NASA explained, “The feasibility study has concluded, and NASA is now internally evaluating the findings and working to determine next steps.” NASA's response to the SpaceX reboost mission aligns with its approach to the current RFI, highlighting that responses to the RFI will be used for the government to consider determining the next steps. To date, neither NASA nor SpaceX released further details on the study.

The RFI comes amid an increase in satellite servicing activities in the aerospace industry, from satellite life extension to refueling, spacecraft repairing, and debris removal. Servicing activities for which Astroscale has positioned itself as an industry leader. In a recent statement, Ron Lopez, president and managing director of Astroscale U.S., said, “The proliferation of in-space servicing and assembly allows us to reimagine how our investments are managed in space; it is the foundation on which the new space age is being built.”

If decided, boosting the Hubble could be an opportunity for Momentus and Astroscale to showcase their abilities as industry leaders in the field and open the floodgates to more robust satellite servicing activities.

“The Hubble’s need for a reboost should be an important wake-up call as to why the space industry needs dynamic and responsive in-space infrastructure, and in this case, to extend opportunities to explore our universe,” Ron Lopez, president and managing director of Astroscale U.S., said in the statement announcing Astroscale’s work with Momentus.