Overview
- NASA and Katalyst announced Wednesday that the LINK spacecraft cannot capture or boost the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory because of ongoing attitude-control failures.
- LINK lost reliable pointing after reaction-wheel failures and partial cold-gas thruster loss produced a multi-axis tumble that teams later reduced with gimbaled xenon electric-propulsion burns.
- Without a successful boost, NASA says Swift remains on a rapidly decaying low Earth orbit and is likely to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere later this year.
- The fast-response effort began with a September 2025 contract and a July 3 launch on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL, a roughly $30 million, first-of-its-kind attempt to service a satellite not built for capture.
- Instead of a boost, LINK will conduct close-proximity rendezvous demonstrations to record operational data that NASA and commercial partners will use to shape future on-orbit servicing and to help preserve scientific coverage as Swift nears its end of life.