NASA has officially called off its ambitious mission to save the Swift Observatory. The space telescope, which has tracked gamma-ray bursts for over two decades, will now reenter the atmosphere and burn up later this year. The agency originally intended to extend the life of the observatory by launching a commercial spacecraft to boost it into a higher orbit.
The rescue attempt hit a critical roadblock shortly after the July launch. The commercial spacecraft, known as the LINK vehicle and developed by Arizona-based Katalyst Space, experienced a malfunction that caused it to spin out of control. Despite efforts by ground teams to stabilize the vehicle using electric propulsion thrusters, the craft remained unresponsive to attempts to lock its rotation.
This mission was the first attempt of its kind to have a commercial robotic spacecraft capture a government satellite that was not built to be serviced in orbit. While the primary goal of saving the telescope failed, NASA officials emphasize that the effort was a necessary risk. The agency continues to prioritize new methods for rapid response to cosmic events.
Katalyst Space and NASA have pivoted the remaining operations for the LINK spacecraft. Instead of attempting a capture, the craft will perform proximity operations near the Swift Observatory. This will allow engineers to collect data on rendezvous maneuvers, which will inform future space mission design. Although the Swift Observatory will reach its end, the data gathered from this failed rescue attempt will influence how the agency manages aging hardware in orbit.