NASA taps startup to save Swift observatory from crashing back to Earth
NASA's Swift Observatory, which has been catching cosmic explosions since 2004, is in trouble—its orbit is dropping fast thanks to extra drag from solar activity.
If nothing's done, there's a high chance it'll fall out of the sky by late next year.
To stop that, NASA just handed $30 million to Katalyst Space Technologies for a last-minute rescue.
How they're planning the rescue
Katalyst's new LINK spacecraft will fly up and grab Swift with a custom robotic capture mechanism, giving it a much-needed boost before time runs out.
The mission is on a tight schedule: launch has to happen before June 2026 using Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL rocket, which is air-launched, making it well-suited for the mission's tight timeline.
Why this matters
Swift has spent nearly 20 years sending back priceless data about the universe's wildest explosions. If it goes down, all that science stops instantly.
This mission isn't just about saving one satellite—it could show how we might fix aging satellites in space instead of tossing them out, making future missions smarter (and cheaper).