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yesterday

NASA and Katalyst Call Off Swift Reboost After LINK Loses Attitude Control

Swift will likely reenter Earth’s atmosphere later in 2026 with LINK shifted to proximity tests that will collect technical lessons for future servicing.

A spacecraft built by space startup Katalyst Space that will tow NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory into a higher orbit awaits encapsulation aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, U.S. June 8, 2026. REUTERS/NASA/Ron Beard
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NASA launched the Swift space telescope to study gamma-ray bursts in 2004
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Overview

  • NASA and Katalyst announced Wednesday that they will not attempt to capture and boost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory because LINK continues to suffer unresolved attitude-control problems.
  • LINK entered a multi-axis spin after launch and lost two of three reaction wheels, and although teams slowed the tumble with electric thruster burns and uploaded new flight software they could not restore reliable pointing for a safe grapple.
  • With the capture abandoned, NASA expects Swift to fall back into the atmosphere and likely burn up later in 2026 while LINK will carry out rendezvous and proximity demonstrations to gather engineering data.
  • Katalyst built and launched LINK on an accelerated nine-month schedule under a roughly $30 million NASA contract and said the remaining operations will be used to improve procedures and hardware for future commercial servicing and deorbit missions.
  • The outcome raises questions about rapid, low-cost commercial rescues for other aging satellites such as Hubble and will influence how agencies weigh speed, risk, and technical readiness for future on-orbit servicing efforts.