NASA has tasked an Arizona-based startup specializing in space travel with a bold rescue mission for its telescope orbiting Earth, which is slowly falling. There is a 90% chance of an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere by the end of 2026. Catalyst Space Technologies, based in Flagstaff, received a $30 million grant from NASA to boost the orbit of the Swift space observatory, or the Swift mission to measure gamma-ray bursts. The company is developing a spacecraft named 'Link', designed to autonomously dock with the Swift observatory and move it to a more stable orbit. Catalyst has less than eight months to launch the rescue craft, with a launch deadline of June 2026. The company announced it plans to launch the mission using a rocket dropped from an aircraft. The Swift observatory was launched in 2004 to observe gamma-ray bursts, the most violent explosions known in the universe. For two decades, it has been in low Earth orbit and has begun to gradually lose altitude, like all artificial satellites. However, the recent increase in solar activity has led to an alarming acceleration in orbital decay. By mid-2026, there was a 50% chance of the observatory's uncontrolled re-entry, a figure that will rise to 90% by the end of 2027.
