Daring mission to rescue NASA satellite

Sounding like the plot from a Hollywood sci-fi movie, NASA has given
a specialist aerospace company just nine months to build and launch a
satellite to rescue its Swift Observatory before it crashes back to Earth

Gamma-ray
explosion

NEIL GEHRELS SWIFT
OBSERVATORY

Nov 2004: Launched 21 years ago

Mission: To detect powerful
gamma-ray bursts that last from
couple of seconds long to few hours

Unique ability: Can
turn very quickly to
identify and locate
gamma-ray sources
for follow-up studies
by better equipped
observatories

Current status: Falling out
of orbit and months away
from being irretrievable

Value:
Having
cost around
$500m to build,
launch and operate,
Swift is significantly
cheaper than Hubble,
but its uniqueness
makes it worth saving –
for right price

Sep 24, 2025: NASA
awards Katalyst Space
Technologies $30m
contract to raise Swift’s
orbit to higher altitude
and extend its life

RESCUE MISSION
Katalyst’s Link
spacecraft

By late summer, Swift
will slip below altitude
of 200 miles (320km)
– too low for rescue

Link: Must grab onto
Swift using three robotic
arms, without damaging
its fragile hull, and push
it to safety

LAUNCH SYSTEM
Stargazer (modified Lockheed
L-1011-100 TriStar)

Jun 1, 2026: Link
carried over ocean
to approximately
40,000ft (12,000m)

Pegasus XL
rocket

Rocket freefalls
from plane for
five seconds

Rocket
ignites

Link stored
in nose cone

Cargo carried
into orbit in
10 minutes

Sources: Ars Technica, Katalyst, NASA, Northrop Grumman
Pictures: NASA
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