NASA launches $30 million robotic mission to save Swift telescope

NASA is conducting a $30 million rescue operation to prevent the aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from re‑entering Earth’s atmosphere. The agency has contracted startup Katalyst Space Technologies to launch its autonomous three‑armed spacecraft, named Link, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on a Pegasus XL rocket. Link will rendezvous with Swift, capture it and lift its orbit from roughly 360 km to about 600 km, a maneuver needed before the telescope reaches a “point of no return” estimated for October.

Swift, launched in 2004, has been losing altitude rapidly because of intensified solar activity, prompting NASA to place it in a low‑power “safe mode” to slow the decay. If successful, the telescope could resume scientific operations by September, preserving its unique capability to detect gamma‑ray bursts and other transient cosmic events. The mission also serves as a test for future servicing of senior observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope, which faces a similar altitude loss.

Katalyst’s CEO Ghonhee Lee said, “This is the first American space robot to go up and do anything like this,” emphasizing the operation as a new tool in NASA’s space‑maintenance playbook.