Commercial robot to rescue NASA’s aging Swift space telescope
TL;DR Summary
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory—launched in 2004 and now tumbling in low Earth orbit due to solar-driven drag—could be saved by LINK, a seven‑month-built robotic spacecraft from Katalyst Space Technologies that would capture Swift and raise its orbit using a Pegasus XL launch; if successful, it would mark the first commercial in‑space servicing of a government satellite, otherwise the observatory could reenter uncontrolled.
Topics:science#katalyst-space-technologies#link#pegasus-xl#satellite-servicing#space#swift-observatory
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