NASA ends Swift telescope mission after nearly 22 years as spacecraft sinks toward re-entry
NASA has ended the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's mission after nearly 22 years, after the spacecraft sank to 171 miles and could no longer hold its orbit against atmospheric drag.
NASA has ended the science mission of its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after nearly 22 years, with the spacecraft expected to re-enter the atmosphere in the next few weeks. (NASA)
Swift conducted its final observation on 20 October. That day it reached 171 miles (275 kilometres), where it could no longer compensate for the effects of increased atmospheric drag, and entered safe mode. The operations team at Penn State in University Park then sent the command that effectively ended Swift operations to prepare it for re-entry. (NASA)
Recent solar activity increased the drag on Swift, which began to sink rapidly. A high-risk, fast-turnaround servicing mission ended in August without an attempt to boost the observatory, after Katalyst Space Technologies’ LINK spacecraft suffered an attitude-control issue under its $30 million NASA contract. Swift then restarted science observations and observed hundreds of targets, from the remnants of stellar explosions to active supermassive black holes and comets, but the return to observations increased drag again and Swift began sinking rapidly. (NASA, EconoTimes)
Swift launched on 20 November 2004, built for a two-year primary mission, and operated for nearly 22 years. In that time it observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and studied more than 1,400 supernova explosions, contributing to about 7,000 scientific papers. Its archive holds more than 1.5 million Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope images and about 12 terabytes of data. (EconoTimes)
Most of the roughly 1,450-kilogram spacecraft should burn up on re-entry, tracking company LeoLabs said, with a very small probability of significant harm to anyone and surviving debris most likely landing in the ocean or on uninhabited land. (martincid)
The ending follows Flip News’s September coverage of the failed rescue bid, when the LINK spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere and Swift was expected to follow within weeks as its orbit sank.
Sources
- NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/10/23/nasas-swift-mission-ends-ahead-of-re-entry/
- EconoTimes: https://econotimes.com/NASA-Ends-Swift-Telescope-Mission-as-Spacecraft-Re-Entry-Nears-1762195
- martincid: https://www.martincid.com/science/nasa-swift-observatory-ends-gamma-ray-bursts-reentry/
- SpaceNews (scan lead): NASA’s Swift space telescope ends mission
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