A spacecraft that was launched in July on a mission to rescue a decaying Nasa space observatory plunged back to Earth on Friday, concluding a failed mission that will be followed by the telescope’s own demise in several weeks’ time.
Link, billed as “America’s first commercial space robot”, lifted off on 3 July from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific islands with the objective of lifting the orbit and prolonging the life of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a satellite that has studied gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic events for the last 22 years.
It got as close as 7 to 9 miles (12km to 15km) to Swift and was able to take a series of images detailing its condition, but a series of earlier in-flight problems that hampered motion control and communications meant Link was unable to capture the observatory as planned and release it at a higher altitude.
Katalyst Space Technologies, the company based in Flagstaff, Arizona, which won a $30m Nasa contract for the salvage mission in September 2024, and put together an ambitious rescue plan inside 22 months, announced in a press release Friday morning that its three-armed spacecraft had re-entered Earth’s atmosphere after 85 days in orbit.
Without the altitude lift, Swift, a collaboration between Nasa and Penn State University that was launched in November 2004, will follow its own descent in the coming weeks, and is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in November.
“From the beginning, this was a high-risk, high-reward mission,” Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of Nasa’s astrophysics division, said in a statement.
“While we’ll be sad to see Swift’s mission come to a close, we knew this boost effort would be worthwhile either way – advancing US spacecraft servicing technology, challenging us to meet unprecedented mission timelines, and testing how we operate satellites to extend their time in low Earth orbit.”
Jared Isaacman, Nasa’s administrator, also praised the mission in a statement.
“Nasa should be willing to move quickly and take smart risks when the potential return is worth it, and that is exactly what we did with this mission,” he said.
“This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting. The team moved with extraordinary speed to give Swift a chance to carry out more science while advancing capabilities America will need for satellite servicing in the future.”
Ironically, Swift’s expected lifespan was shortened by the very intense flare-ups from the sun, which it was sent up to observe. Nasa suspended its observations earlier this year and repositioned Swift to try to minimize the atmosphere’s downward drag while preparing the rescue mission.
Electronics issues on board Link after launch rendered inactive two of its three reaction wheels required for maneuvering, and at one point the spacecraft went into a deep spin. Communication and control were restored, but mission managers abandoned the rescue effort last month when it became clear there was insufficient fuel left.
