Robot spacecraft sent to save NASA Swift observatory returns to Earth after failed mission
Katalyst Space Technologies' Link spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere on Friday, ending NASA's $30 million bid to boost the 22-year-old Swift observatory to a higher orbit. Swift is expected to follow in early November.
NASA’s bid to save the 22-year-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is over. The three-armed robotic spacecraft Link reentered Earth’s atmosphere overnight on Friday, less than three months after launch, Katalyst Space Technologies announced, closing the $30 million NASA-sponsored salvage effort.
Link launched on July 3, 2026 under a $30 million NASA contract, with a plan to capture Swift and boost it to a higher, longer-lasting orbit so it could keep observing some of the biggest explosions in the universe. It never got the chance. Two of the three reaction wheels needed to steer the spacecraft failed, and a faulty valve sent Link into a fast spin that disrupted communications. Engineers regained control, but by mid-August there was not enough propellant left for a safe capture, and the rescue effort was called off.
Swift, which has studied gamma-ray bursts and other extreme astrophysical phenomena since launching in 2004, is now expected to follow Link into the atmosphere in early November as its orbit steadily sinks. Most of the observatory is expected to be destroyed on reentry.
“While we’ll be sad to see Swift’s mission come to a close, we knew this boost effort would be worthwhile either way,” NASA’s Shawn Domagal-Goldman said in a statement, adding that it provided valuable practice for future satellite-rescue missions.
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