NASA has launched an emergency mission to save the Swift Observatory, a gamma-ray burst hunter orbiting Earth since 2004. Recent solar storms have pushed the spacecraft into a lower orbit, raising the risk it could burn up in the atmosphere as soon as this year.
The agency enlisted Katalyst Space Technologies, whose Link spacecraft launched Friday with a critical rendezvous. Swift lacks its own propulsion system, making it vulnerable to orbital decay. This mission marks a rare attempt to manually boost a satellite that was never designed for servicing.
Swift currently circles at 224 miles altitude. Link aims to raise that by roughly 150 miles, returning the observatory to its original position. The three-armed design of the rescue craft adds complexity to an already challenging orbital mechanics problem.
Success would extend Swift's life by years, preserving a key tool for studying black holes and neutron stars. Failure could mean losing one of NASA's most productive astrophysics platforms, with no replacement currently scheduled.
Katalyst Space Technologies is betting on a growing market for satellite life extension. The company declined to comment on the mission's total cost, but industry analysts say similar efforts typically run into the tens of millions.