NASA Swift Boost: first robotic rescue launches to reboost 22-year-old gamma-ray burst observatory
A first-of-its-kind robotic rescue launches today to save NASA's 22-year-old Swift observatory, the only telescope built to catch gamma-ray bursts as they flare, before solar-storm drag pulls it from orbit by year's end. Katalyst's LINK craft rides a Northrop Grumman $NOC Pegasus
NASA is attempting something it has never tried before: a robotic rescue of one of its own science satellites. The target is the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which for 22 years has served as the sky's early-warning system for gamma-ray bursts, the most violent explosions in the universe. Swift was built to swing toward a burst within seconds and alert observatories worldwide before the signal fades. The problem is altitude. Swift's orbit has been decaying since launch, and a recent stretch of stronger-than-expected solar activity thickened the upper atmosphere, increasing drag and accelerating the fall. Without intervention, the observatory would reenter the atmosphere by the end of this year. The fix is a refrigerator-sized spacecraft called LINK, built by Katalyst Space and launched today on a Northrop Grumman $NOC Pegasus XL air-launched rocket from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. LINK carries three ion engines, three robotic arms, and a sensor suite designed to approach and capture a satellite that was never engineered to be docked with, then push it to a higher, more stable orbit. If it works, Swift gains at least five more years of operating life. The mission also doubles as a proof of concept for commercial satellite servicing, a capability the space industry has promised for years but rarely demonstrated on a live, uncooperative spacecraft. For astronomers, the stake is immediate: Swift remains the primary instrument that points the rest of the field at gamma-ray bursts as they happen. According to NASA, the agency is paying roughly $30 million for the attempt.