Earlier this year, the Space Telescope Science Institute issued a call for white papers named Building a Roadmap for Hubble science into the 2030s. As you may know, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched in the early 1990s and NASA has gone above and beyond to keep it going for more than 30 years. However, there are two main limiting factors to keep HST running: one is funding and the other one is that the telescope is slowly infalling into the Earth, and it is predicted to reentry the atmosphere in the first half of the next decade.
There is a strong motivation to keep HST active, as it is one of the most productive observing facilities of modern astronomy. With that said, there was a big scare in 2024 when the operations of HST were under threats of significant budgetary reductions.
The question then is: what pressing science cases require HST observations before it is eventually is de-orbited? Addressing this question is precisely what this call of white papers was issued. These white papers will help STScI and NASA make strategic decisions about how to support HST in the 2030s, with a potential to boost its orbit to avoid an early reentry. Keep in mind that boosting HST costs money, as does supporting its instruments and eventually de-orbiting it in the future, whenever it happens.
I led a white paper on atmospheric escape in exoplanets, which I posted on arXiv last week. Other white papers relevant to exoplanet science case were led by several of my colleagues, which I list below:
- Hubble Science in the 2030s White Paper: High-Contrast Optical and UV Spectroscopy with HST/STIS
- The unique ability of the Hubble Space Telescope to characterize young exoplanet environments
- The Ultraviolet View of Star and Planet Formation: Disks, Accretion, and Outflows with the Hubble Space Telescope into the 2030s
- White dwarf planetary systems in the ultraviolet
- Exploring Space Weather From Young Solar-like Stars as Windows to Exoplanetary Habitability
- From Hubble to HWO: Bridging the Frontier of White Dwarf Exoplanet Science
- Characterizing Transiting Exoplanet Atmospheres in the 2030s with the Hubble Space Telescope
I am sure that there are other submitted white papers on this topic as well, as not everyone posted their submission on arXiv – which I highly encourage authors to do, as it gives visibility to the many different science cases that HST is capable of addressing within the next decade.
As a side note, the Swift Observatory will be receiving a boost later this year, only a couple of months before its predicted reentry – by a private company to boot! This does open a precedent for HST, which is encouraging. I highlight that the continued operations of Swift are also desirable due to its unique and crucial capabilities for studying astronomical transients.
Many of us hope that HST will remain operational until the launch of the next NASA flagship mission, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), which is expected to happen in the 2040s. The current status of HWO is that NASA is conducting trade studies that will drive the design of the facility, based on the various science cases presented by the community in 2025. Like HST, HWO will have unique UV spectral capabilities that no other facility does.