NASA and Katalyst to save falling Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been orbiting Earth since 2004 to catch gamma-ray bursts, is in trouble; it's slowly falling toward the atmosphere thanks to extra drag from recent solar activity.
If nothing's done, it'll be destroyed by late 2026.
So NASA is teaming up with Katalyst Space Technologies for a mission called Swift Boost to save it.
Link spacecraft to raise Swift orbit
Launching on June 27, 2026, Swift Boost will send a spacecraft called Link (built in just nine months) aboard Northrop Grumman's last Pegasus XL rocket.
Link will use robotic arms to grab the observatory and push it into a higher orbit, giving it at least five more years of life.
It's tricky because Swift wasn't built for docking or repairs, plus there are risks like equipment failure and solar storms, but if this works, NASA could have a new way to keep old satellites running instead of letting them burn up.