The history of Hubble telescope dates back to 1940s, when Lyman Spitzer Jr., a renowned astrophysicist, proposed the concept of an orbiting telescope. Spitzer recommended the development of a large, space-based orbital platform observatory which could view and record a wide range of light and radiation wavelengths. Spitzer said an orbital telescope would not be obstructed by the atmospheric distortion of Earth, and therefore would be able to explore deep into space with clarity. This vision ultimately became the Hubble space telescope.
Spitzer devoted much of his career to the development of space telescope. The United States National Academy of Sciences (nasonline.org) submitted a report in 1962 which proposed the development of a space telescope. Spitzer was appointed as the head of the committee in 1965. The committee identified the scientific objectives of developing a large space telescope.
A smaller orbiting solar observatory was launched by NASA in 1962. The agency had plans for developing a larger reflecting telescope, and this small observatory was its predecessor. There were initial problems with the reflecting telescope, but the development of adaptive optics offered a solution. Reflecting telescopes play a vital role in space telescopes. The development of reflecting telescopes is a significant event that led up to the development of the Hubble telescope.
The orbiting solar observatory revealed the importance of space-based observations. The success of this smaller observatory led to the development of larger space telescope called Orbital Space Observatories. Eight small, limited-use OSOs were launched by NASA in between 1965 and 1975. The plans for this generation of orbital observatories stressed the need for manual ongoing maintenance to the telescope. The lessons from the first space based platforms helped ensure that the expensive Hubble program would have a long life. Successive development of plans led to the development of the Hubble telescope.