Overview
- LINK, Katalyst Space’s roughly 880-pound robotic servicer, is integrated on a Pegasus XL under the Stargazer aircraft at Kwajalein and awaits an air launch planned for the end of June.
- Once in orbit, LINK will spend several weeks commissioning its ion thrusters, navigation sensors, and robotic arms before a multi-week rendezvous and a months-long gradual orbit raise to about 370 miles.
- Swift operators at Penn State reoriented the telescope and cut power to reduce atmospheric drag, and current projections show the observatory staying above the critical altitude through the fall.
- The mission carries high technical risk because Swift was not built for servicing and must be mechanically captured with robotic arms while LINK uses autonomous LiDAR and camera guidance and electric propulsion.
- NASA awarded about $30 million for the rapid development to save Swift, which launched in 2004 and remains the only fast-response gamma-ray burst observatory, and success would advance affordable commercial on-orbit servicing options.