Overview
- LINK, the 937-pound robotic servicer built by Arizona startup Katalyst, is integrated on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL and is scheduled for air-launch Saturday, June 27 from Kwajalein.
- Katalyst developed LINK in roughly 250 days under a roughly $30 million NASA contract and completed final integration and deployment preparations in late June.
- Swift’s orbit has been dropping faster than expected because of increased solar activity and atmospheric drag, and NASA says the telescope could fall below a viable rescue altitude by about October 2026.
- After launch LINK will spend weeks commissioning in orbit, then take about three weeks to rendezvous with Swift and roughly two to three months using thrusters and a robotic capture mechanism to raise the observatory before LINK deorbits.
- If the boost succeeds, Swift could return to science operations and gain years of life while the mission would validate commercial on-orbit servicing; mission teams warn the capture is technically risky because Swift was not built for servicing and could be damaged during the maneuver.