A satellite called LINK that recently launched to boost the orbit of a falling space observatory won't be able to carry out its daring rescue mission after all.
NASA's decades-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is steadily losing altitude and in danger of reentering Earth's atmosphere. Designed by Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies to save the observatory, the LINK satellite began to encounter difficulty in late July. Just weeks after LINK lifted off on July 3, it started to spin out of control.
Katalyst was able to regain control of the satellite, but the company acknowledged that the issue cost it time, which would delay LINK's rendezvous with Swift by about a month. However, that postponement — at least initially — did not seem to be a deterrent to the mission.
Now, NASA and Katalyst have announced that LINK's mission will not capture and boost Swift to a higher orbit "due to ongoing attitude control issues," according to statements Wednesday.
LINK launched on July 3 aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket affixed to the bottom of the company's Stargazer aircraft. – Ron Beard/NASA
Swift's science mission will come to an end as the observatory likely burns up in Earth's atmosphere later this year, according to NASA.
"NASA should be willing to move quickly and take smart risks when the potential return is worth it, and that is exactly what we did with this mission," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement.
"This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting. The team moved with extraordinary speed to give Swift a chance to carry out more science while advancing capabilities America will need for satellite servicing in the future."
But LINK's journey isn't over yet, and the lessons learned could be instrumental for future in-space servicing operations.
The mission team is forging ahead with its plan for LINK to rendezvous with Swift — but as a demonstration rather than a rescue.
"We are going to learn everything we can from LINK's rendezvous attempt and put those lessons to work on the missions that follow," Isaacman said.
Originally, LINK was expected to conduct a survey of Swift to determine the best grappling points on the observatory, a step that will likely be part of the satellite's anticipated rendezvous, though it's currently unclear when this test will take place.
Swift wasn't designed to be serviced in space, which means that insights from the demonstration could be used for future missions.
"Katalyst designed, developed, and launched an experimental spacecraft to go after an ambitious mission on an aggressive timeline," said Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Katalyst Space Technologies, in a statement. "We took on this high-risk, high-reward challenge and are proud of the milestones we reached along the way. We have already learned a tremendous amount, and now our job is to turn those lessons into something durable — building a repeatable playbook to inform future rendezvous and proximity operations and satellite servicing."
The Swift Observatory, which has no established observational replacement waiting in the wings, has served as an astrophysics multitool in low-Earth orbit since it launched nearly 22 years ago, quickly pivoting to observe celestial objects and cosmic events.
