NASA’s attempt to save an aging space telescope from falling back to Earth was delayed Thursday after a launch issue scrubbed the first-of-its-kind rescue mission.
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts and other powerful cosmic explosions, has been slowly losing altitude because of increased solar activity. Unless its orbit is raised, the observatory is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere as early as October.
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After days of weather delays, a Northrop Grumman aircraft carrying a Pegasus rocket took off toward the Marshall Islands on Thursday. But an issue prevented the team from releasing and launching the rocket, according to NASA.
The mission is designed to extend Swift’s lifespan by boosting it into a higher orbit, a maneuver attempted only once before by China, which successfully raised a satellite into a higher orbit in 2022.
NASA contracted startup Katalyst Space Technologies to carry out the U.S. mission. Its autonomous servicing spacecraft, called Link, will rendezvous with Swift about a month after launch, capture the telescope using three robotic arms, and gradually raise its orbit from roughly 224 miles to about 373 miles.
“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.”
NASA LAUNCHES RESCUE MISSION TO STOP TELESCOPE FROM FALLING BACK TO EARTH
About the size of a small refrigerator with a 40-foot solar wingspan, Link is equipped with three robotic arms, each featuring two finger-like grippers designed to latch onto the aging telescope.
If the mission succeeds, Swift could resume scientific operations by September, Lee said.
