NASA’s Swift Boost mission launched from the Marshall Islands on July 3 at 4:36AM Eastern time after delays, aiming to deploy LINK—a robotic spacecraft designed by Katalyst Space—to dock with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and tug it into an orbit about 37
On July 3 at 4:36AM Eastern time, NASA’s Swift Boost mission lifted off from the Marshall Islands—after a couple of delays—carrying a single, urgent task: stop the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from dropping out of the sky faster than expected.
Swift Boost’s ground teams have already established communication with LINK, the robotic spacecraft built by Arizona company Katalyst Space. LINK’s job is to dock with the observatory using three robotic arms and then tug it back into a higher orbit. a rescue plan designed to buy the telescope roughly a decade more of life.
The launch itself wasn’t a standard rocket ride. LINK was attached to a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which was carried beneath a plane called Stargazer. Stargazer took off from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands and released the Pegasus XL in the air at an altitude of around 40. 000. After a brief free fall of a few seconds, the rocket’s engines ignited to place LINK into space.
Making contact with LINK was NASA’s first objective—and it worked. LINK has already powered on. and Katalyst will run health checks over the next several weeks to examine its propulsion. sensor. and navigation systems. Once those checks are complete. LINK will travel toward the Swift observatory to survey it before attempting the capture and docking.
The orbit raise is expected to take time. Delivering the observatory to an orbit with an altitude of approximately 370 miles should extend its life by about a decade, and NASA expects the process to take 10 to 12 weeks.
This isn’t a routine “eventually, everything falls” scenario. NASA says the observatory’s orbit decayed much faster due to recent solar activity. Without LINK’s help, the Swift telescope would be falling from orbit by the end of the year.
Swift has been watching the universe for more than two decades, studying gamma ray bursts—brief flashes of high-energy light. Brad Cenko. Swift’s principal investigator. describes them as “short-lived flashes of high-energy light that release more energy in just a few seconds than the sun will in its entire lifetime.” These events are thought to come from exploding and colliding stars.
Cenko also points to what Swift has revealed about the chemistry of the cosmos. saying data from Swift confirmed that “the heaviest elements in the periodic table. including the gold and platinum in our jewelry. are forged in these systems.” Scientists have also leaned on Swift as a “dispatcher” or a “first responder. ” collecting critical information when sudden cosmic events erupt.
NASA Swift Boost LINK Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Katalyst Space Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL Stargazer Kwajalein Atoll orbital decay gamma ray bursts