Mission to save NASAs aging Swift space telescope called off | Latest Tech News
The mission to save NASA’s sinking Swift Observatory was called off Wednesday, dooming the telescope to a fiery reentry later this yr.
NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies announced the news more than a month after the startup’s Link spacecraft rocketed away to the telescope’s rescue.
Katalyst said Link won’t attempt to seize Swift and increase it to a larger orbit because of issues with controlling the spacecraft. NASA said this means the telescope will plunge through the environment after more than 20 years of monitoring some of the largest explosions in the universe like gamma ray bursts and exploding stars. Its demise is just not anticipated before October.
A spacecraft constructed by space startup Katalyst Space supposed to tow NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory into a larger orbit awaits encapsulation aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on July 2, 2026. via REUTERS
NASA paid $30 million to Katalyst in an attempt to raise the telescope to a safer, longer-lasting orbit. Intense photo voltaic exercise induced it to lose altitude sooner than anticipated. The rescue spacecraft went into an uncontrollable spin a few weeks after its liftoff in early July. While flight controllers managed to slow Link’s tumble, points continued to plague its pointing and positioning in orbit.
“This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a assertion.
As a comfort prize, Katalyst will continue to operate Link in proximity with the telescope to reveal capabilities for future rescue operations.
Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee said it was an formidable mission on an aggressive timeline that was thrown together in under a yr.
Kieran Wilson, LINK’s principal investigator, and Hunter Robertson, a space systems engineer, both at Katalyst Space, stand next to their spacecraft inside the SES at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. on April 18, 2026. NASA via AP
“We took on this high-risk, high-reward challenge and are proud of the milestones we reached along the way,” Lee said in a assertion. “We have already learned a tremendous amount.”
Launched in 2004, Swift’s science devices had been turned off earlier this yr to slow its descent. It was orbiting 214 miles (345 kilometers) high as of Wednesday. Katalyst had hoped to elevate the telescope back to its authentic orbit of 373 miles (600 kilometers), permitting for many more years of cosmic observations.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope may benefit from an orbital increase and had been next in line for a rescue attempt had this mission gone properly. The 36-year-old Hubble is also dropping in orbit because of all the solar’s current outbursts. It wasn’t immediately identified whether or not Hubble is now out of luck.
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