Space Telescope Rescue Mission in Need of Rescue

A spacecraft sent to boost a falling NASA telescope back into orbit is now in need of rescue itself. The refrigerator-sized Link spacecraft, built by a small Arizona company, unexpectedly started tumbling down just as it was closing in on the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Link lost contact with mission controllers in Colorado for a full day, which was far longer than expected. When data finally trickled back, When the connection was restored, the data showed that the spacecraft was spinning, and two of its three reaction wheels were broken. The main electric propulsion system, however, was, and is, still working; engineers think they can use it to slow the spin and eventually complete the mission.

Ghonhee Lee, the chief executive of Katalyst Space Technologies, said the situation was serious but not terminal. “We’re so confident that this is not over and that we’re not giving up,” he said. The orbit boost will likely be delayed until late August, but there should still be enough time to rescue it. The observatory is currently a little over 200 miles up and dropping about 1.5 miles per week. If it falls below 185 miles above sea level, a rescue becomes far harder.

Swift, which was originally designed for just a one-year-long mission, has been studying gamma-ray bursts since 2004. The large intense solar activity at the end of 2024 puffed up the atmosphere, which increased drag on the satellite, forcing NASA to fast-track a rescue. Katalyst won the contract and built Link in just nine months. NASA officials knew the attempt was risky, but Shawn Domagal-Goldman, the agency’s astrophysics director, said it was “worthwhile to try.”

For now, engineers are working to fix the broken systems while the spacecraft’s electric thrusters slowly stop it from spinning.