NASA weighs Hubble rescue or retirement amid high operating costs
NASA's iconic Hubble Space Telescope, which has been orbiting Earth since 1990, is slowly dropping altitude and could reenter Earth's atmosphere by 2033, or possibly even as early as 2029.
With operating costs hitting nearly $98.8 million for the 2025 fiscal year, NASA is weighing whether it can afford a rescue mission or if it is time to let Hubble retire.
NASA testing commercial boost for Swift
Before making any big moves on saving Hubble, NASA is focused on trimming expenses.
Meanwhile, NASA is prepping a boost for the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, another aging satellite, using a commercial spacecraft this month.
This Swift mission will test out cheaper ways to keep satellites alive, but saving Hubble will be trickier because it's much more expensive.
As Shawn Domagal-Goldman of NASA puts it, cutting costs is key if we want Hubble to keep delivering amazing discoveries.