Up in the quiet darkness of low Earth orbit, a satellite known as the “Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory” is fighting a losing battle. Launched in 2004 to chase down the universe’s most violent fireworks – gamma-ray bursts – Swift has faithfully delivered two decades of science.
But now, with its orbit eroding under the subtle drag of Earth’s upper atmosphere, the spacecraft may not survive until its intended twilight. So, NASA has turned to a bold new approach: rescuing a satellite that was never built to be rescued.
However, something has to be done, according to people overseeing the project. Swift is described as “a $500 million space telescope” which is currently at risk of uncontrolled deorbit by late 2026, so the $30 million NASA is spending to rescue it not only seems reasonable, it’s also forward-thinking because new technologies and techniques may emerge for saving other defunct satellites that float around the Earth as debris could either be fixed or disposed of safely.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director, Astrophysics Division, NASA headquarters in Washington, says: “Given how quickly Swift’s orbit is decaying, we are in a race against the clock, but by leveraging commercial technologies that are already in development, we are meeting this challenge head-on. [Read more…] about NASA awards $30 million to Katalyst Space Technologies to rescue $500 million satellite