Robotic Rescue of NASA Swift Telescope Fails

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Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK spacecraft aborts attempt to boost NASA's Swift Observatory to a higher orbit after encountering control issues, leading to the telescope's planned reentry later this year.

Robotic rescue of NASA telescope highlights challenge of capturing space junk

A commercial robotic spacecraft launched July 3 on an emergency mission to rescue NASA's aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been slowly falling toward Earth. The mission, led by Katalyst Space Technologies' spacecraft LINK,…

2026-07-22 · 4 MIN READ

SpaceX launches Northrop robotic mission to repair aging satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral carrying Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle, a two-armed spacecraft on a mission to dock with aging communication satellites and attach propulsion modules to extend…

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NASA calls off Swift telescope rescue mission

NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies ended their Swift Observatory rescue mission on Wednesday, dooming the telescope to reenter Earth's atmosphere later this year.
Katalyst's Link spacecraft will not attempt to capture Swift because of continuing attitude-control problems that began with an uncontrollable spin weeks after its early-July liftoff.
NASA said Swift had tracked gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars for more than 20 years before intense solar activity caused the telescope to lose altitude faster than expected.
NASA paid Katalyst $30 million for the rescue attempt, which was meant to raise Swift to a safer, longer-lasting orbit.

2026-08-19 · 3 MIN READ