NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory expected to end operations mid-October

Technology Sep 26, 2026

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, famous for catching cosmic explosions called gamma-ray bursts, is almost at the end of its journey.

After more than two decades of scanning the universe, its orbit is still slowly dropping, and science operations are expected to finish by mid-October.

NASA aborts swift rescue, demonstrates rendezvous

NASA tried to save Swift with a rescue mission this July using Katalyst Space's Link spacecraft, but technical problems forced them to call it off.

Now, instead of boosting its orbit, the team is using these final weeks to demonstrate rendezvous and proximity-operation technologies.