Science1 hOctober 27, 2026, 16:20

NASA ends Swift telescope mission after rescue attempt fails

NASA officially ended the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory mission on October 23, 2026, after the telescope collected its final science data on October 20. Katalyst Space Technologies' $30 million LINK rescue craft failed to raise the orbit due to attitude-control faults and reentered Earth's atmosphere on September 25.

Tech Times

Open source

NASA ends Swift telescope mission after rescue attempt fails

Swift operated for over 20 years, observing more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and 1,400 supernovae
Katalyst won the $30 million rescue contract in September 2025
LINK launched on July 3, 2026, but lost orientation about three weeks later
The craft closed to within 12–15 km of Swift and returned engineering data

#NASA#Swift#Katalyst

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