Pegasus XL

The LINK service spacecraft approaches the Swift Space Telescope in Earth orbit.

Swift Space Telescope Rescue Mission Fails; It Is Expected to Burn Up in the Atmosphere

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NASA and Katalyst have called off an attempt to raise the orbit of the long-standing space observatory after problems with the LINK service spacecraft prevented it from making a safe approach and capture. Swift itself is still largely intact, but without
Catalyst engineers attach the LINK to a baseplate inside the Space Environment Simulator at NASA's Goddard on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. After all the air was pumped out of the 27-foot-diameter chamber, the team practiced firing the satellite's ion engines and operating one of the robotic arms as they moved between hot and cold space-like temperatures. Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

This week: An in-orbit rescue operation. A robotic satellite will try to prevent the fall of the Swift telescope

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The LINK robotic service satellite will launch aboard a Pegasus XL rocket and attempt to latch onto NASA's Swift space observatory. Three ion engines are expected to lift the telescope into an orbit of about 600 kilometers and prevent it from entering
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