The mission to save NASA’s Swift Observatory from a fiery descent was called off Wednesday, dooming the more-than-20-year-old gamma-ray telescope to plunge through the atmosphere later this year. NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies — the startup whose Link spacecraft rocketed away in early July to rescue Swift — announced the decision more than a month after liftoff.

Intense solar activity had been dragging Swift toward reentry faster than expected, narrowing the window for any rescue attempt. NASA paid Katalyst $30 million to capture the telescope and push it to a safer, longer-lasting orbit.

Katalyst said Link will not attempt that capture because of problems with controlling the spacecraft. NASA said the decision means Swift will reenter the atmosphere, ending a mission that tracked gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars for more than 20 years.

The rescue spacecraft had gone into an uncontrollable spin a few weeks after its early-July liftoff, NASA and Katalyst said. Flight controllers managed to slow Link’s tumble, but issues continued to plague its pointing and positioning in orbit.

When Katalyst’s Link spacecraft launched in early July, MSI reported on the challenges of capturing the unprepared Swift Observatory — a satellite never designed with a fixture a service craft could latch onto.