Swift Boost Media Resources
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Swift Boost Media Resources After more than two decades, the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has entered a phase of rapid decay. While NASA could allow the observatory to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, as many missions do at the ends of their lifetimes, this situation has presented an opportunity to advance American spacecraft servicing […] The post Swift Boost Media Resources appeared first on NASA Science.
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Swift Boost Media Resources
After more than two decades, the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has entered a phase of rapid decay. While NASA could allow the observatory to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, as many missions do at the ends of their lifetimes, this situation has presented an opportunity to advance American spacecraft servicing technology while also extending the life of a productive science mission. To accomplish this, NASA awarded the U.S. company Katalyst Space a contract in September 2025 to attempt to raise Swift’s orbit.
Engineers from Katalyst Space Technologies in Flagstaff, Ariz., stabilize their LINK robotic servicing spacecraft as it moves into a vibration chamber at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on April 15, 2026. The vibration chamber simulated the intense shaking LINK will experience during launch.
NASA/Scott Wiessinger
NASA studies how the Sun impacts the space environment, including objects in low Earth orbit, and recent increased solar activity has accelerated Swift’s decay. This has put NASA in a race against the clock before Swift re-enters Earth’s atmosphere in fall 2026. Katalyst’s robotic servicing spacecraft, LINK, will launch on its mission to boost Swift in June 2026 on Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket.
Pegasus XL is an air-launched rocket that will be integrated with LINK at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and then ferried underneath Northrop’s L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Reagan Test Range located on Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific for launch. By launching from Reagan Test Range, Pegasus will be able to deliver LINK directly into Swift’s orbit, where LINK will attempt to rendezvous with Swift and raise it to a higher altitude.
Northrop Grumman’s Stargazer, a modified L-1011 aircraft, soars upward after takeoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. One of the company’s Pegasus XL rockets, carried beneath the aircraft as shown here, will launch Katalyst’s LINK spacecraft.
NASA/Randy Beaudoin
If this daring servicing mission is successful, it will be the first time a commercial robotic mission has captured a NASA spacecraft that is uncrewed and not originally designed to be serviced in space.
Swift studies gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, and other cosmic objects and events. In the more than two decades since its launch, Swift has become a key part of NASA’s strategy for studying fleeting and unpredictable changes in the sky from a variety of sources. With its versatility and rapid follow-up capabilities, Swift has enabled the discovery and localization of previously unknown cosmic targets. NASA then follows up these discoveries using different space telescopes, along with ground-based facilities from other agencies, to help us better understand how the universe works. By boosting Swift’s orbit, NASA will retain the observatory’s unique capabilities at a fraction of the cost of designing and building a new mission.
In anticipation of the boost, NASA temporarily suspended Swift science and modified its operations in a way that had never been done in the mission’s lifetime. This enabled controllers to keep the spacecraft in an orientation that minimizes drag effects and extends Swift’s time in orbit. To maximize the boost’s chances of success, Swift’s average altitude needs to be above about 185 miles (about 300 kilometers).
Mission Goals
Demonstrate NASA’s rapid-response capability and foster agile technology development to benefit current and future missions.
Advance U.S. private spacecraft servicing to demonstrate a key commercial capability for the future of space exploration and expand NASA’s use of servicing to a new and broader class of spacecraft.
Retain Swift’s unique capability to lead NASA’s fleet of space telescopes in studying changes in the high-energy universe using a cost-effective approach.
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (KBRwyle)
Swift boost facts
ContractorKatalyst Space in Flagstaff, Arizona
Launch vehicleNorthrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket
Launch locationKwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands
Launch dateJune 2026
Servicing vehicleKatalyst’s LINK spacecraft
A 880 pound (400 kilogram) small satellite
Uses three robotic arms to dock with Swift
Controlled rendezvous validated with a full-scale Swift model in a robotic testbed
Precision guidance, navigation, and control
Katalyst Space’s LINK spacecraft will take several months to complete the Swift orbit boost, as outlined in this timeline. In the artist’s concept, LINK is the smaller of the two spacecraft.
Katalyst Space and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
This mosaic of M31 merges 330 individual images taken by the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope aboard NASA’s Swift spacecraft. It is the highest-resolution image of the galaxy ever recorded in the ultraviolet. The image shows a region 200,000 light-years wide and 100,000 light-years high.
NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler (GSFC) and Erin Grand (UMCP)
Swift spacecraft facts
Launch dateNov. 20, 2004
TypeMedium-class Explorer Mission
InstrumentsBurst Alert Telescope, Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, X-ray Telescope
Collaborating AgenciesItalian Space Agency (ASI); UK Space Agency
Collaborating InstitutionsPennsylvania State University, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University of Leicester, Brera Observatory, ASI Data Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Mission ManagementGoddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Program ManagementNASA’s Space Science Mission Operations
Mission OperationsPenn State Eberly College of Science, State College, Pennsylvania
In July 2004, technicians in Hangar AE at what is now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., removed the final pieces of protective covering from the Swift spacecraft in preparation for its November 2004 launch.
NASA
Press contacts
Alise Fisher, public affairs, NASA Headquarters
Karen Fox, public affairs, NASA Headquarters
Sarah Bradley, media contact, Katalyst Space
Brigitte Sprague, communications lead, Northrop Grumman
Gail McCormick, communications, Penn State Eberly College of Science
Resources
Swift Boost Fact Sheet
Swift Boost Page
Additional information and resources for the Swift boost
Swift Blog
Updates and progress reports on the Swift boost mission
Swift Multimedia Gallery
Videos and imagery related to the Swift mission and its science
NASA Image and Video Library
Historical photos and video of Swift
Swift News & Feature Stories
Swift science highlights
Katalyst Space News
News from Katalyst Space
Pegasus XL rocket info
Additional information on Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket
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