The viability of operating a private astronaut mission to prolong the life of the Hubble observatory is being investigated by NASA and the SpaceX rocket business.

One of the most important scientific equipment ever created, the orbital observatory, is progressively descending.

The telescope will eventually lose momentum and burn up in the atmosphere if nothing is done to re-boost it.

Five times, the last being in 2009, astronauts in NASA's space shuttle performed maintenance on Hubble.

The telescope has descended by around 25 km since that time and is currently circling the Earth at a height of 540 km.

The observatory should ideally be brought back up to its original 600 km height, where it was when it was launched in 1990.

This might extend its lifespan by 20 to 30 years, though longevity would also be highly dependent on the telescope's systems, especially their continuing proper operation.

This might extend its lifespan by 20 to 30 years, though longevity would also greatly depend on the telescope's systems and, in particular, its four instruments, continuing to function well.

Hubble has been a very successful astronomical instrument. More than 1.5 million observations have been made throughout the course of its lifespan, leading to the publication of almost 19,000 academic research papers.

Just this year, it has observed the most distant star in the entire universe, imaged the largest comet ever discovered, and assisted in capturing footage of the Dart probe's collision with an asteroid this past week.

The James Webb telescope, its replacement, was launched by NASA at the end of last year, and it is hoped that the two will continue to cooperate for many years to come.

The research will look at the possibility of Elon Musk's business sending a commercial crew to Hubble in one of its Dragon capsules, not only to raise the observatory higher in the sky but also to maintain some of its equipment.

The replacement of the gyroscopes, which are used to orient the telescope at stars and galaxies and have a propensity to break down over time, is one example of a repair and upgrade project.

Astronauts are currently transported to and from the International Space Station using SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. However, Jessica Jensen from SpaceX claimed that Hubble would be a different approach.

'It is in a different orbit, has a different mass, and has a different kind of vehicle. The particulars of proximity operations will vary slightly and be specific to the telescope, 'She told the press.

We simply want to look forward to researching the needs and the options while coordinating everything with NASA. The 'capture ring' that the final shuttle flight in 2009 fastened to Hubble is one thing that might aid Dragon.

A future robotic vessel was designed to use this mechanism to grab the 12-ton telescope and take it out of the sky for safe disposal in the South Pacific Ocean.

Now, a Dragon capsule may alternatively utilise the same ring to lock on to Hubble and propel it higher.

Entrepreneur and millionaire Jared Isaacman, who last year led the all-civilian 'Inspiration4' voyage into orbit in a Dragon capsule, will help with the investigation. To advance commercial space technologies, he has a programme named Polaris.

'With the James Webb telescope fully operational, the significance of Hubble's mission has increased. Thinking about the potential to increase one of our greatest explorers' lifespan and capacities is quite intriguing 'said Mr. Isaacman.