RESCUE IN ORBIT: Intrepid Space Mission Will Attempt To Save Aging Telescope From Falling Back to Earth (VIDEOS) * The Gateway Pundit * by Paul Serran
Swift Observatory – Illustration NASA/Wiki Commons
Swift needs a little boost.
NASA is involved in a different type of space race, as the agency scrambles to save the aging Swift Observatory telescope from falling back to Earth.
The daring, $30 million salvage mission is expected to start this week, with the launch of a ‘robotic lifesaver’.
The launch of the mission to boost Swift was initially scheduled for today (30), but was scrubbed due to weather.
The next launch attempt is targeted for tomorrow, July 1, at 5:43 a.m. EDT.
The Katalyst spacecraft will be launched on Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands.
A moment of quiet after a busy year.
The LINK robotic spacecraft from Katalyst Space will launch soon to attempt an orbital boost of our Swift observatory. It went from a concept to poised for launch in less than a year. Now, it is nestled into Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL… pic.twitter.com/W5M0LHkvB3
— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) June 19, 2026
CBS News reported:
“NASA hired startup Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the Swift Observatory to a higher orbit where it can continue hunting for some of the universe’s biggest explosions. A three-armed spacecraft built by Katalyst will chase after Swift once it takes off from an atoll in the Pacific’s Marshall Islands aboard an airplane-launched Pegasus rocket. Liftoff could occur as early as Tuesday.
Scanning the cosmos since its launch in 2004, Swift has been sinking faster and faster because of recent intense solar activity. It needs to get to a higher, more stable orbit as soon as possible to survive.”
🚀SPACE NEWS and UPDATES🚀
Katalyst Space robot to launch on mission to save NASA’s Swift space observatory.The NASA Swift space observatory is in danger of falling from space after 22 years, but a rescue mission with the help of a robot is set to launch on June 30. NBC News’… pic.twitter.com/2UqSVzJxnn
— Space Coast Rocket Launches 🚀💫📡🪐 (@SpaceNewsFL) June 29, 2026
Associated Press reported:
“’This is the first American space robot to go up and do anything like this’, [Katalyst Space CEO Ghonhee] Lee told The Associated Press. ‘NASA has all these big senior observatories … all of them can benefit from a service like this. So, what we’re proving with this mission is this is a new play in the playbook that’s available’.
It will take Katalyst’s autonomous spacecraft, named Link, about a month to rendezvous with Swift and catch it, and another couple of months to raise its orbit from the current 224 miles (360 kilometers) to the desired 373 miles (600 kilometers).
The 1.6-ton (1.4-metric ton) gamma ray observatory must be above 185 miles (300 kilometers) for the rescue to work. It’s expected to reach that point of no return in October, according to the latest estimates.”
Are you ready for it?
Tomorrow, June 30, at 6:17 a.m. ET, Katalyst Space’s robotic servicing spacecraft, LINK, is scheduled to launch on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Kwajalein Atoll to begin its journey to meet and boost our Swift observatory. Stay tuned for updates! pic.twitter.com/oOafcLFKua— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) June 30, 2026
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