# NASA Launches First-Ever Commercial Robot Mission to Rescue Decaying Swift Observatory

*2026-06-21 14:03 UTC · Science · 1 min read*

> NASA and startup Katalyst Space Technologies are launching a $30 million robotic mission to boost the decaying Swift Observatory back into a safe orbit — a historic first for commercial satellite servicing.

NASA is attempting to save one of its most productive space observatories from an uncontrolled reentry. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, launched in 2004 to detect gamma-ray bursts — the universe's most powerful explosions — has been steadily losing altitude due to atmospheric drag amplified by heightened solar activity, falling from its initial 373-mile orbit to roughly 249 miles. Without intervention, Swift faces a 50% chance of reentry by mid-2026 and 90% by year-end.

In an unprecedented move, NASA awarded Arizona-based startup Katalyst Space Technologies a $30 million contract to build a robotic rescue craft called LINK. Launching aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket — air-deployed from a Stargazer aircraft at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility — LINK will autonomously rendezvous with Swift, attach to it, and fire Hall-effect thrusters to push the observatory into a safer, higher orbit. Swift was never equipped with its own propulsion system, making it entirely dependent on the rescue craft.

If successful, this will mark the first time a privately developed robotic spacecraft has autonomously docked with and repositioned an operational U.S. government science satellite not originally designed for servicing. NASA officials have called it "a fast-paced, high-risk mission with no room for major delays."

## Sources

- [republicworld.com](https://www.republicworld.com/science/space/nasa-plans-daring-rescue-mission-to-save-swift-observatory-telescope-from-falling-out-of-space-2026-06-20-129137)
- [space.com](https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/katalyst-space-technologies-swift-observatory-rescue-mission-pegasus-rocket)
- [astronomy.com](https://www.astronomy.com/science/swift-observatory-rescue-mission/)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/1869-nasa-launches-first-ever-commercial-robot-mission-to-rescue-decaying-swift
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/1942-nasa-vysila-prvni-komercni-robotickou-misi-na-zachranu-observatore-swift-ktera