SpaceX Research Fund To Improve The High Orbit Of The Hubble Telescope For A Longer Usage

JAKARTA Elon Musk's SpaceX space company plans to fund research with NASA to check how to use their Dragon capsule to increase the orbital altitude of the Hubble Space Telescope. This effort, according to NASA officials, will extend the telescope's life.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which has been transporting astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station to NASA, will fully fund the six-month study.

"A few months ago SpaceX approached NASA with the idea of a study on how commercial crews could help upgrade our Hubble spacecraft to higher orbits, which would extend its observation period," NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen told reporters at a news conference.

The Hubble Space Telescope has been a hard-working cosmic observatory for astronomers around the world since its launch in 1990. The telescope gives a dramatic image of the star and enables important discoveries such as the age of the universe and the moons of Jupiter.

NASA said the team would collect data to "help determine whether it is possible to meet, dock, and move the telescope safely into a more stable orbit."

Hubble was served several times in the early 2000s during the US shuttle program. Since the program was discontinued in 2011, astronomers have considered various ways to serve an aging but still operating telescope.

The study will examine whether SpaceX's Dragon capsule needs to be modified to dock and increase the orbit of the telescope, as well as whether astronauts need to be on board for potential missions.

"At this point everything is on the table," Jessica Jensen, vice president of operations for SpaceX customers, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

NASA officials stressed that the agreement with SpaceX was only for SpaceX-funded studies, and did not represent the agency's plans to serve other telescopes in the future.