A Satellite-Boosting Spacecraft Gets Set for an Air-Launched Ride to Orbit
Katalyst Space’s LINK servicing satellite is being readied to chase down NASA’s ageing Swift telescope — which has dropped from 373 to 249 miles — and boost it back to a safe orbit.
A robotic spacecraft is being prepared for an unusual mission: catch an ageing NASA telescope that’s slowly falling, and push it back up to a safe orbit.
The short version
- Katalyst Space’s LINK servicing satellite will rendezvous with NASA’s Swift Observatory and raise its orbit.
- Swift, launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, has decayed from about 373 to 249 miles in altitude.
- LINK will ride an air-launched Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL, dropped from a Lockheed L-1011 “Stargazer” at ~39,000 feet.
- The mission involves four separate vehicles and demands precise prediction of Swift’s position.
Why it matters
In-orbit servicing — refuelling, repairing and repositioning satellites — could extend the lives of valuable spacecraft instead of letting them re-enter and burn up.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Space.com via the links above and below.