{"id":775527,"date":"2026-07-03T02:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T02:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775527\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T02:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T02:08:11","slug":"nasa-struggles-to-save-multitool-orbital-satellite-from-a-fiery-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775527\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Struggles to Save ‘Multitool’ Orbital Satellite From a Fiery Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA suspended all scientific activity onboard its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory<\/a> this past February, in the hopes of reducing drag and buying time before the space telescope\u2019s orbital decay drags it down into a fiery death by friction through Earth\u2019s atmosphere. In the months since, the U.S. space agency has raced to put together a \u201creboost<\/a>\u201d mission that will reposition the device into a higher, safer orbit.<\/p>\n

This unusual operation\u2014reportedly the first satellite servicing of its kind\u2014plans to deploy a $30 million orbital craft with three robotic arms called LINK<\/a>, developed by private aerospace firm Katalyst Space, to \u201cslowly raise Swift\u2019s altitude over several months,\u201d as NASA put<\/a> it in a press statement. But, as of this morning, NASA\u2019s mission to save Swift has been postponed three times in less than a week, due to inhospitable weather conditions Tuesday and Wednesday, and now a \u201claunch vehicle issue\u201d on Thursday, temporarily grounding Katalyst\u2019s rescue robot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe date of the next launch attempt for this mission [\u2026] will be determined after teams have reviewed data from today\u2019s attempt,\u201d NASA public affairs specialist Alise Fisher wrote<\/a> in an update.<\/p>\n

Reboost, reuse, recycle <\/p>\n

Over the course of Swift\u2019s roughly 21 years in orbit, the space satellite has already exceeded its original purpose: recording gamma-ray bursts, meaning the electromagnetic evidence of distant, dense stars as they collapse into the creation of newborn black holes. The telescope, which cost $250 million to make in 2004 (or about $452 million in today\u2019s dollars), has since shown utility spotting X-ray flares, mapping galaxies<\/a>, tracking an asteroid<\/a> whizzing past Earth, and even documenting a black hole leeching material off its nearby star<\/a>, among other lateral use cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a high-risk, high-reward mission,\u201d the director of NASA\u2019s astrophysics division, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, said ahead of the first attempted launch this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have much to gain by attempting this boost, which is more affordable than trying to replace Swift\u2019s capabilities and allows NASA to advance the nation\u2019s satellite servicing industry, for the benefit of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LINK robotic spacecraft will head into space from Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, a long-time U.S. strategic ally in the South Pacific, onboard a modified Lockheed Martin L-1011 aircraft. From there, NASA plans to launch the LINK into orbit from midair, via a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which will take it on an intersecting path toward the Swift Observatory.<\/p>\n

A LINK to the past <\/p>\n

Katalyst Space\u2019s LINK spacecraft reportedly weighs about 880 pounds (400 kilograms) with a height of roughly 5 feet (1.5 meters). It\u2019s at best one third the size of the Swift itself\u2014but will be propelled by three solar-powered ion thrusters as its robotic arms maneuver the NASA satellite to safety, preserving its ability to peer deep into space and recording cosmic events<\/a> from the earliest eras of the known universe.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwift is NASA\u2019s multitool when it comes to studying the cosmos,\u201d said S. Bradley Cenko, principal investigator for NASA\u2019s Swift research. \u201cFor the last two decades, Swift has been a key player in NASA\u2019s efforts to understand how the universe works, and we\u2019re looking forward to getting back to that work after the boost is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katalyst has only had since this past September to put together its LINK craft, when NASA reached out to commission the design, construction, and testing of a device capable of gently moving its sensitive scientific instrument into a new orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwift wasn\u2019t designed to be serviced,\u201d Katalyst\u2019s CEO Ghonhee Lee noted. \u201cBy demonstrating we can quickly and cost-effectively extend its lifetime, we\u2019re creating a blueprint for servicing spacecraft that were never designed for on-orbit maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee framed it as more than just one rescue mission, but proof of concept humanity needs to prove itself as a spacefaring species: \u201cIf we\u2019re going to build an enduring presence beyond Earth, we need the capability to manipulate our environment in space,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means deploying robotic spacecraft that can reposition, repair, refuel, and refit satellites after launch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA suspended all scientific activity onboard its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory this past February, in the hopes of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[305,17708,64,63,49857,131,128,285],"class_list":["post-775527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-astronomy","tag-astrophysics","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-gamma-rays","tag-nasa","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}