NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies announced that the attempt to save the sinking Swift Observatory will not go forward because the rescue vehicle cannot safely capture the telescope. Katalyst said its Link spacecraft will not attempt to grapple Swift and boost it to a higher orbit. The decision means the telescope, which has tracked gamma ray bursts and exploding stars for more than two decades, will reenter the atmosphere and burn up later this year.
NASA had contracted Katalyst and paid $30 million for the orbital rescue effort. Katalyst said Link developed problems controlling its attitude a few weeks after launch and went into an uncontrollable spin. Flight controllers slowed the tumble, but continuing issues with pointing and positioning made the capture too risky, Katalyst said. NASA described the outcome as disappointing but said the attempt was worth trying.
As reported by NASA, Swift had its science instruments turned off earlier this year to slow its fall. The telescope was orbiting about 214 miles high when the decision was announced. Katalyst had aimed to lift Swift back to roughly 373 miles, which would have extended its observing life substantially. The company described the mission as ambitious and executed on an aggressive timeline, assembled in under a year.
Implications And Future Prospects
Katalyst said it will continue to operate Link in proximity to Swift to demonstrate rendezvous and close-approach capabilities for future missions. The company framed the effort as a high-risk, high-reward challenge that yielded important technical lessons. Katalyst Chief Executive Ghonhee Lee said the team reached milestones and learned a tremendous amount from the flight.
NASA noted broader implications for other aging space telescopes that are losing altitude because of recent solar activity. The Hubble Space Telescope had been identified as a potential candidate for a similar orbital boost if this mission had succeeded. It was not immediately known whether plans for Hubble will change following the cancellation of the Swift rescue.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the outcome did not change why the mission was worth attempting. Both agencies and the company emphasized that the operation advanced knowledge about in-orbit servicing even though it did not achieve its primary objective. The agencies left open the possibility that lessons from Link will be applied to future rescue concepts.
