Overview
- A rapid-response commercial servicer called LINK, launched in July to grab and reboost the 2004-launched Swift observatory, developed attitude-control problems and two failed reaction wheels that forced NASA and Katalyst Space to cancel the capture-and-boost attempt.
- With the boost abandoned, mission teams restarted Swift’s X-ray Telescope (XRT) and Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) to resume limited science while the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) remains offline to conserve power and reduce drag.
- Controllers have kept Swift in low-drag configurations and adjusted its power profile, but the observatory lacks its own propulsion so recent solar-driven atmospheric expansion has accelerated orbital decay and now puts Swift below a critical ~185-mile (300 km) threshold within weeks to months.
- LINK will continue rendezvous and proximity demonstrations to collect engineering data on close-approach operations that could guide future in-space servicing despite its inability to perform the planned boost.
- If Swift reenters later this year it will likely burn up, and the loss would reduce near-real-time coverage of fleeting cosmic events while shaping policy and technical plans for future commercial satellite servicing efforts.