A Vantor WorldView Legion satellite captured a new image of the Hubble Space Telescope

On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (during mission STS-31). Just a few days ago, this important scientific instrument celebrated its 36 years in low Earth orbit. Its mission has allowed for the collection of a vast amount of data and images that have made history in astronomy. It's worth noting that HST was developed using components from U.S. spy satellites, enabling NASA to reduce production costs (as happened later with RST).

As every year, NASA celebrates the anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, while an interesting image has been released by Vantor (formerly Maxar Intelligence) which was captured just hours before midnight on April 23 of this year. To achieve a sufficiently high resolution, one of the WorldView Legion satellites was employed, showing numerous details.

According to reports from Vantor, the WorldView Legion satellite was 61.8 km away from HST, achieving a resolution of 4 cm/pixel. The company stated, "the characteristic cylindrical body of Hubble, the sparkling thermal shield, and the extended solar panels are clearly visible, along with the open front aperture cover of the telescope. For over three decades, Hubble has expanded our understanding of the Universe—capturing breathtaking images and revolutionary science that continue to inspire. Proud to support the technologies and teams that make moments like this possible."

Click on the image to enlarge

It's important to remember that the Hubble Space Telescope is suffering from various technical issues, and maintenance and upgrade operations (such as those carried out during its history via the Space Shuttle) have not been performed for several years. HST is also losing altitude due to atmospheric drag and if it is not somehow raised again, it will re-enter the atmosphere and be destroyed (current estimates indicate 2033 as the year for the end of operations).

Jared Isaacman, at the time a private citizen and currently an administrator at NASA, stated in 2022 that together with SpaceX he could conduct a private mission to attempt to raise HST's orbit using a Crew Dragon capsule. A few months later, the U.S. space agency dismissed the idea due to the risks and potential worsening of the already critical conditions of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Now that Isaacman has taken on a prestigious role within the space agency, he must grapple with the budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration and the potential repercussions from the U.S. Congress. This is a complicated situation that could leave HST "in limbo" for some time before a decision is made regarding the continuation of the mission.