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5h ago

NASA Calls Off Attempt to Save Swift Observatory

Persistent attitude-control failures on Katalyst’s LINK spacecraft mean Swift will likely reenter this year with LINK repurposed to run proximity demonstrations and capture lessons for future on-orbit servicing.

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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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Overview

  • NASA and Katalyst announced Wednesday that LINK will not attempt to capture and reboost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after continued problems controlling the spacecraft’s orientation.
  • LINK began tumbling about three weeks after its July 3 launch and suffered failures in two reaction wheels plus partial loss of its cold-gas thruster system, producing a multi-axis spin of roughly 9 degrees per second that disrupted pointing and communications.
  • Engineers slowed the spin with thruster burns and sent new attitude-control software on August 11, but those fixes did not restore the reliable pointing needed for a safe grapple and boost.
  • Without a successful reboost, NASA says the 2004 Swift telescope — whose science instruments were turned off earlier this year to slow its descent — is expected to burn up on uncontrolled reentry later in 2026.
  • Katalyst built LINK under a rapid, roughly $30 million contract awarded in September 2025 and launched it on a Pegasus XL; the company and NASA will now use planned rendezvous and proximity operations to extract technical and operational lessons that could inform future commercial servicing and any plans to assist other aging satellites such as Hubble.