NASA gives up on trying to rescue the Swift telescope
NASA and Katalyst Space have abandoned plans to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a satellite whose orbit has been dropping due to increased solar activity, meaning it is now expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere later this year. The two organisations announced that Katalyst's Link spacecraft, hampered by its own "attitude control issue", will no longer attempt to capture Swift and boost it into a higher orbit, and will instead carry out proximity operations to gather data useful for future space missions.
Swift launched in 2004 for a planned two-year mission studying gamma-ray bursts but went on to serve as a general-purpose observatory for over two decades. Katalyst was awarded a $30 million contract last September to attempt the rescue, and its Link craft launched on 3rd July before developing problems in late July. NASA officials, including astrophysics director Shawn Domagal-Goldman and administrator Jared Isaacman, described the attempt as a worthwhile high-risk endeavour despite the outcome.
- NASA and Katalyst abandon mission to save the Swift telescope
- Link spacecraft's own technical fault ended the rescue attempt
- Swift expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere later this year
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Solar activity has caused the Swift satellite's orbit to decay faster than expected, putting it on course to burn up in the atmosphere later this year. NASA hired a company called Katalyst Space to attempt a rescue using a spacecraft named Link, which would have docked with Swift and pushed it into a higher, safer orbit. That plan has now been called off after Link itself developed technical problems.
Swift, officially the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, is a space telescope launched by NASA in 2004. It was originally meant to run for just two years studying brief, intense flashes of light called gamma-ray bursts, but it ended up operating for more than two decades as a wider-purpose observatory used by astronomers around the world.
The rescue attempt was notable partly because satellites are not normally designed to be repaired or moved once in orbit, so this would have been an unusual feat. NASA and Katalyst had a $30 million contract for the mission, and officials from both organisations have said the attempt was still worth making even though it did not succeed, as it may yield useful information for future spacecraft servicing efforts.