NASA launches $30 million rescue mission to lift Swift telescope from decaying orbit

NASA has contracted Katalyst Space Technologies to develop a robotic spacecraft, named LINK, that will rendezvous with the aging Swift gamma‑ray observatory and raise its orbit. The mission, costing roughly $30 million, will be launched on a Pegasus XL rocket released from the Stargazer aircraft over the Pacific, possibly from the Marshall Islands, within the coming week.

Swift, operating since 2004, monitors bright cosmic explosions, but intensified solar activity in 2024 has heated the upper atmosphere, increasing drag and causing the satellite’s altitude to fall toward the critical 300‑kilometre threshold. If the telescope drops lower, it could burn up on re‑entry later this year. LINK, weighing about 425 kg and equipped with three robotic arms, is expected to reach Swift within a month, capture it, and then lift it to a more stable orbit of roughly 600 km, with full operations potentially resuming by September. Success would demonstrate the first on‑orbit service of a non‑servicable satellite and could open a new era for commercial space‑maintenance capabilities.