NASA delays launch of robotic mission to raise Swift telescope into safer orbit

WASHINGTON: NASA has postponed the launch of a robotic mission aimed at preventing the ageing Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and burning up, while testing a new approach that could help extend the lives of other satellites.

The mission was due to begin on Tuesday, when a rescue spacecraft built by US startup Katalyst was scheduled to lift off at 1023 GMT from a Pacific Ocean atoll aboard the small Pegasus rocket. NASA, however, delayed the launch because of unfavourable weather and said the next attempt would take place no earlier than Wednesday, July 1, at 0943 GMT. Unlike a conventional launch, the rocket will be released from a jet rather than taking off from a launch pad.

Once in space, the robot is expected to spend months carrying out a complex operation to reach an orbit close to Swift, locate the telescope and attach itself using three movable arms. It will then attempt to move the telescope roughly 300 kilometres higher over at least a month, placing it in a more stable orbit and sparing it from destruction.

NASA astrophysicist Regina Caputo described the unusual nature of the effort in remarks to AFP.

"Everything about this mission is so crazy,"

Speaking on a recent call with reporters, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, said the project combines several unprecedented steps.

"This is a lot of firsts stacked on top of each other, I’m just deeply thankful that we’re even giving this a go", he stated.

Why NASA wants to save Swift

Swift was launched in 2004 for what had originally been planned as a two-year mission. The telescope was built to study gamma-ray bursts, which Caputo described as the most energetic events in the universe. She compared them to a far more powerful version of a supernova, the explosive death of a star.

Because gamma-ray bursts are extremely brief, the telescope was placed at an altitude of about 600 kilometres in low Earth orbit so it could stay in constant contact with scientists. But that same orbital height also meant the spacecraft, which has no propulsion system of its own, would gradually lose altitude and eventually burn up in the atmosphere.

Caputo said the process is expected during more active phases of the Sun’s cycle, when additional particles cause Earth’s atmosphere to expand. That increases drag on objects in low Earth orbit and causes satellites to descend. After forecasts in early 2025 showed Swift was nearing the end of its operational life, NASA began weighing whether to try to save it.

Domagal-Goldman said the agency chose to intervene because of the telescope’s scientific value.

"We decided, yeah, we want to go save this one this time, because of how special it is,"

High-risk mission with wider implications

Despite being in service for more than two decades, Swift is still heavily used by researchers, particularly because it can respond quickly to cosmic events. If the telescope is lost, it cannot be replaced immediately.

The rescue effort is projected to cost $30 million, compared with the telescope’s original $250m price tag. The robot, known as LINK, faces significant technical uncertainties. Engineers do not have a clear view of the rear of the telescope, even though that is the area where the spacecraft will need to secure itself.

Caputo, speaking with a laugh, put the chances of success at "maybe 50-50."

NASA and Katalyst say the mission, which could continue into the fall, is still worth attempting because it may help establish new ways to manage spacecraft already in orbit. Robert Lamontagne, a vice president at Katalyst, said during a call with journalists that the effort could mark the "start of a new model” to “refuel, reposition, repurpose, repair, and even upgrade satellites, even if they were never prepared for it"