Space startup Katalyst launches orbital rescue mission for aging NASA observatory

NASA and Arizona-based startup Katalyst launched the robotic spacecraft LINK over the Pacific on Thursday to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, also called SWIFT, while testing new orbital grappling technology. The roughly half-ton vehicle is designed to latch onto the disabled satellite and raise it to a higher, sustainable orbit, potentially extending the observatory’s mission by years. SWIFT has no onboard propulsion and faces a 90% chance of falling out of orbit later this year and burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. LINK launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket from a Lockheed TriStar aircraft at 1:36 a.m. PDT (0836 GMT). Over the following month it will rendezvous, use three robot arms with hand-like grippers to capture SWIFT, and then tow it toward an altitude of about 373 miles (600 km). The $30 million mission is under a NASA contract and is the first U.S. effort of its kind.