NASA and startup Katalyst Space Technologies have abandoned a robotic mission to rescue the ageing Swift gamma-ray observatory before it falls out of orbit and burns up. The rescue satellite, named Link, launched on 3 July on a mission to grab Swift with three robotic arms and boost it into a safer orbit, but Katalyst said "ongoing attitude control issues" have made completing the rescue impossible. The setback ends an ambitious, high-risk attempt to demonstrate satellite-servicing technology on an unusually tight schedule.

Link, a refrigerator-sized craft built under a $30 million NASA contract awarded less than a year ago, was developed and launched in just nine months rather than the usual several years, forcing engineers to accept elevated technical risk. Everything functioned normally until late July, when two of the satellite's three reaction wheels failed and its cold gas thrusters also developed problems, leaving only weak plasma thrusters to control its orientation. Katalyst says Link is still operational and may attempt a close-approach demonstration of its navigation system near Swift, while NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Katalyst chief executive Ghonhee Lee defended the mission as a valuable, if unsuccessful, step towards future satellite-servicing capabilities.