NASA has planned to use Hubble Space telescope for future missions of New Horizons spacecraft. After the New Horizons finishes with its current mission, Hubble space telescope will be used further so as to find the Horizons' next destination in the outer reaches of the Solar System.

The Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee is the one giving recommendation that the Hubble should be brought in to use so as to study the possible new mission for New Horizons in a possible new place in the space.

New Horizons mission is a US$650 million space mission that was launched on January 19, 2006 atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft was sent on a 9.5-year mission to fly by Pluto. The spacecraft is expected to reach Pluto on July 14next year.

Once the New Horizons spacecraft is done with its Pluto mission it will be free for new space mission. The decision where the Hubble Space Telescope should go next must be made soon because radio signals from the nuclear-powered probe take four hours to reach earth due to the massive distance. Also, for the next mission the spacecraft can make appropriate use of Pluto's gravity to slingshot itself in the right direction.

Kuiper Belt, which is found 8 billion km beyond the orbit of Pluto and comprises detritus left over from the formation of the Solar System, could be the next obvious target. Till date, all the knowledge about Kuiper Belt is the result of deduction and speculation rather than direct observation.

"The planned search for a suitable target for New Horizons further demonstrates how Hubble is effectively being used to support humankind's initial reconnaissance of the solar system", said Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland.