Overview
- NASA engineers say Swift’s orbit is rapidly decaying and that once it dips below about 185 miles in early to mid‑October operating the telescope will become difficult and the spacecraft is expected to burn up on reentry.
- Katalyst Space’s LINK spacecraft failed to save Swift after it spun out of control, used fuel to stop the tumble, and was left without enough propellant to capture and reboost the telescope, then reentered the atmosphere on Sept. 25.
- During its brief operations LINK reached roughly 7.5 to 9 miles from Swift, deployed three robotic arms, and fired electric propulsion thrusters as demonstrations of proximity and servicing techniques.
- NASA teams have been turning Swift’s instruments back on to collect final science, a move that has increased power use and accelerated the spacecraft’s descent toward reentry.
- Space‑tracking firms say the chance of surviving Swift debris causing injury or major property damage is very small and most fragments would likely fall into the ocean or uninhabited land, and both NASA and Katalyst stress the mission’s lessons for future on‑orbit servicing.