Particle.news
Download on the App Store
19 ARTICLES
·
6h ago

NASA Calls Off Commercial Rescue of Falling Swift Observatory

The outcome underscores limits of rapid commercial spacecraft servicing, creating uncertainty about future orbital boosts for aging satellites such as Hubble.

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
Image
NASA launched the Swift space telescope to study gamma-ray bursts in 2004
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, shown in this artist’s concept, has orbited Earth for more than 20 years, studying the ever-changing universe.

Overview

  • NASA and contractor Katalyst announced Wednesday that LINK will not capture or boost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory because of persistent attitude-control failures.
  • LINK developed reaction-wheel and cold-gas thruster degradations that caused a multi-axis spin of about 9 degrees per second and intermittent communications despite software updates and xenon thruster burns.
  • With the capture-and-boost abandoned, NASA expects Swift to continue decaying and likely reenter Earth’s atmosphere later this year.
  • Katalyst will repurpose LINK to perform rendezvous and proximity operations to collect technical data and operational lessons for future satellite servicing missions.
  • The fast, roughly $30 million, nine-month development schedule that produced LINK is now being reviewed for trade-offs between speed and reliability as agencies weigh how to protect other aging assets.