NASA’s Swift Observatory, which has been working in space for 22 years, is in danger. Due to solar storms its orbit is continuously falling. To save it, NASA has started Swift Boost Mission worth about Rs 282 crore. In this, a robotic spacecraft will go into space and catch the Swift telescope with its three robotic hands and will again send it to a safe orbit of about 600 km. If the mission is successful, it will be the first such robotic rescue operation in space history.
NASA is going to launch this robotic mission this week i.e. on Tuesday, June 30. NASA has entrusted the responsibility of saving the Swift Observatory and placing it in a higher and more stable orbit to a startup company named Catalyst Space Technologies. Let us know why NASA wants to save this old satellite. What other new avenues will open with this technology…
Why is the Swift telescope in danger?
NASA originally launched Swift in 2004 at a cost of $250 million and was designed for a mission of only two years. At the time of launch, it was placed in an orbit 600 km above the Earth. But recently, due to intense solar activity and solar storms, this satellite is falling rapidly. It may burn up after falling back to Earth by the end of this year. Since this spacecraft has no engines of its own to maintain orbit, NASA had to take immediate steps to save it.
Link will rescue Swift
This mission has been named Swift Boost. Catalyst Space has developed an autonomous spacecraft named ‘Link’.
- It is the size of a small kitchen refrigerator, with a 40-foot solar wingspan.
- It has 3 main ion engines and 3 robotic arms, whose reach is a little more than 3 feet.
- Each hand has two pincers, similar to the hands of the Lego mini-figure, which will hold Swift.
This mission will be launched from the Reagan Missile Test Site of Kwajalein Atoll located in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean. The task of carrying it will be done by the last L-1011 Stargazer carrier plane, from which it will be launched for the last time from the Pegasus XL rocket. This rocket has been made by a company named Northrop Grumman.
Mission Challenges and Timeline
Catalyst has prepared this Link spacecraft in a record time of just 9 months, because NASA had selected them for this only in September last year (2025).
- According to the latest estimates, the 1.6-ton Swift telescope is at risk of falling below 300 km by October.
- ]For the rescue to work, the Swift must be above 300 km.
- After launch, it will take about a month for the link to catch up and catch up with Swift.
- After this, it will take two more months to increase the orbit of the telescope from 360 km back to 600 km.
- If all goes according to plan, Swift will operate for at least five more years.
To ease the rescue process and slow down the speed of fall, NASA had shut down all its devices in February itself.
Why is it important to save the swift?
Swift is no ordinary telescope. According to Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division, Swift is a space first responder that can track distant gamma-ray bursts by rotating rapidly. These explosions last only a few seconds but produce more energy than the entire lifetime of our Sun. NASA’s Science Mission Chief Nikki Fox says that currently NASA does not have the budget to replace it, so losing it would be like losing a big capability. In 2018, its name was changed to ‘Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory’.
What will be the benefit if the mission is successful?
According to Ghonhee Lee, CEO of Jan Catalyst Space, this is the first American space robot of its kind to go to space. Before this, only China had made a successful attempt to push a satellite into the graveyard orbit 4 years ago. NASA’s 36 year old Hubble Space Telescope is also losing altitude due to solar storms. Lee believes that his new robot can also extend the life of Hubble till 2028. Catalyst is looking at this as a new business in the future.
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