Overview
- LINK entered a multi‑axis spin over the weekend after two of its three reaction wheels stopped working and its cold‑gas thruster system lost partial functionality.
- Katalyst and NASA report the vehicle is power‑positive and intermittently in contact while teams are firing gimbaled electric (xenon) thrusters to reduce the tumble.
- Engineers plan to update LINK’s guidance, navigation and control software for the degraded hardware and then jointly evaluate whether a safe rendezvous and grapple of Swift remains possible.
- Swift is already in a decaying low Earth orbit of roughly 350 km and was expected to cross a ~300 km threshold by October without a boost, making the recovery effort time‑sensitive.
- The mission was a roughly $30 million, fast‑paced commercial demonstration built in under a year to test robotic on‑orbit servicing, and its outcome will affect plans for future low‑cost satellite maintenance.