Three-Armed Spacecraft Launches to Rescue Declining NASA Telescope

A three-armed spacecraft named Link launched into orbit Friday from the Marshall Islands aboard a Pegasus rocket carried by a modified airplane. The vehicle is scheduled to reach the Swift Observatory in about a month under a $30 million NASA contract awarded to Katalyst Space Technologies.

Swift, a 1.6-ton observatory launched in 2004, now orbits at 224 miles above Earth after descending from its original 373-mile altitude. Recent solar storms have increased atmospheric drag, accelerating the decay. Without intervention the telescope is expected to re-enter and burn up in October.

Link will approach Swift, use its three robotic arms to capture it, and then fire thrusters over two to three months to raise the altitude by 150 miles. Observations with Swift are currently suspended to preserve its remaining fuel and orbit. If the mission succeeds, the telescope could resume operations by September.

Katalyst assembled the spacecraft in eight months at its Flagstaff, Arizona facility after NASA set a tight deadline. The company said the rapid timeline was required because Swift will soon drop below the altitude where recovery remains possible.

“This is a high-risk, high-reward mission,” Katalyst Space Technologies CEO Ghonhee Lee said ahead of launch. Dr. Simeon Barber of the Open University described the effort as high risk but worth attempting because Swift enables unique observations of high-energy cosmic phenomena.

NASA has noted that Hubble could become a candidate for a similar operation in coming years as its orbit also declines.