A three-armed robot named Link has been launched into orbit on a mission to prevent a NASA telescope from crashing back to Earth. The spacecraft, built by aerospace startup Katalyst Space Technologies, lifted off from the Marshall Islands on Friday aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket—the final flight of that rocket model, which was dropped from the belly of a modified aircraft over the Pacific Ocean.
Link's target is the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a telescope that has been circling Earth since 2004. Swift studies some of the most violent events in the universe, including gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars. But recent solar activity has heated and expanded Earth's outer atmosphere, creating extra drag that is pulling the telescope steadily earthward. Without intervention, it was predicted to reenter the atmosphere by October and burn up.
A Race Against Time
NASA is paying Katalyst $30 million (€27 million) for the rescue. The mission came together in just nine months—an unusually short timeline for a space operation. Currently orbiting at 360 kilometers above Earth, Swift needs to be pushed up by 240 kilometers to reach a safe altitude. Link's thrusters will fire gradually to avoid jolting the ageing spacecraft.
If all goes well, Swift could resume observations by September. For now, its instruments are on standby to slow its descent. The telescope has already lost altitude faster than expected due to increased solar activity, a phenomenon that also threatens other orbiting assets. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope could face a similar fate in the coming years as the sun's activity continues to rise.
Bad weather and technical issues caused a string of delays before Friday's liftoff. Katalyst chief executive Ghonhee Lee described the effort as a high-risk, high-reward mission. "The biggest danger was always we don't launch anything and we let Swift burn up in the atmosphere," Lee said. "So we were always trying to avoid that risk, and our team has done that."
While the mission is led by NASA, its implications extend beyond the United States. European space agencies and researchers have long collaborated on Swift's observations, and the telescope's data has been used by scientists across the continent. The rescue also highlights a growing trend in space debris mitigation and satellite servicing—areas where European companies like Switzerland's ClearSpace and Germany's OHB are active.
Link will take about a month to reach Swift. Once docked, it will use its own thrusters to raise the telescope's orbit. The operation is a test of Katalyst's technology and could pave the way for similar missions to extend the life of other satellites. As the sun's activity increases with the solar cycle, more spacecraft may need such boosts to avoid premature reentry.
For now, the focus is on Swift. The telescope has been a workhorse for astrophysics, tracking gamma-ray bursts and other transient phenomena. Its loss would leave a gap in the network of space-based observatories that monitor the universe's most energetic events. European astronomers, who rely on Swift's data for their research, will be watching the mission closely.
