A young company's robotic rescuer, sent to catch a failing government telescope before it falls back to Earth, has itself begun to tumble beyond its controllers' grasp. The reach is ambitious and the clock is unforgiving: Swift is descending toward a fall deadline that gave the whole effort less than a year to come together. Whether the rescuer can steady itself in time will show how far a small firm's bold approach to space can carry a public mission.
Private Swift Rescue Craft Hit by Thruster Failure and Uncontrolled Spin
The spacecraft sent to save an aging NASA telescope now needs saving itself.
Mark
Why does a thruster problem on a satellite matter so much here?
Mimi
Because Link is the whole rescue. It's the only craft meant to capture Swift and lift it to a higher orbit, and now it's spinning and hard to talk to.
Luke
Let's be careful about what we actually know. Katalyst said the thrusters are having problems and the spin is uncontrollable. That's the company's account.
Mark
When did this happen?
Mimi
Over the weekend, roughly three weeks after launch. The company announced it Tuesday.
Luke
And the cause is unknown, at least publicly. Nobody has said why the thrusters failed or how fast it's spinning.
Mark
What's at stake in money and time?
Mimi
NASA is paying $30 million, and the mission was assembled in under a year. Swift is expected to fall back to Earth this fall without help.
Luke
Worth noting, "working nonstop" is a statement of effort, not a forecast. We don't have any indication yet of whether recovery is likely.
Mark
So what do we watch?
Mimi
Whether Katalyst regains control and communication, and whether that happens with enough time left before Swift's descent.
El Pulso
- Katalyst's Link satellite is spinning out of control after thruster failures that began just weeks after its launch.
- Ground controllers have lost reliable contact, leaving the rescue craft unable to be steered toward its target.
- NASA's Swift telescope keeps sinking, with re-entry expected this fall if nothing changes.
- The company says it is working around the clock to stabilize Link, but no recovery plan has been detailed publicly.
- The $30 million rescue now depends on whether the spacecraft can be brought back under control before the window closes.
A young company's robotic rescuer, sent to catch a failing government telescope before it falls back to Earth, has itself begun to tumble beyond its controllers' grasp. The reach is ambitious and the clock is unforgiving: Swift is descending toward a fall deadline that gave the whole effort less than a year to come together. Whether the rescuer can steady itself in time will show how far a small firm's bold approach to space can carry a public mission.
The spacecraft sent to save an aging NASA telescope now needs saving itself. On Tuesday, Katalyst Space Technologies reported that its Link satellite has developed thruster problems and entered a spin it cannot control, cutting off reliable communication with the craft.
The trouble surfaced over the weekend, roughly three weeks after Link reached orbit. Link is a three-armed robotic vehicle built for a single purpose: to reach NASA's Swift Observatory, grab it, and boost it into a higher orbit.
Swift is sinking, and without help it will fall back to Earth this fall. That deadline is why the mission exists and why it was assembled in under a year, a rapid pace even by spaceflight standards. NASA is paying $30 million for the effort, and the startup Katalyst is putting its approach to a very public test.
Katalyst says it is working nonstop to restore Link. What caused the failures, how fast the craft is spinning, and how much contact has been lost remain unclear, as does whether a recovery plan exists beyond that round-the-clock effort. The rescue can only proceed once the spin is halted and steady contact is restored, and the question now is whether that can happen before the telescope's descent runs out the clock.
The spacecraft sent to save an aging NASA telescope now needs saving itself. On Tuesday, Katalyst Space Technologies said its Link satellite is having thruster problems and has gone into a spin it cannot control. The spin is disrupting communication with the craft.
The trouble began over the weekend, about three weeks after Link launched into orbit. The spacecraft is a three-armed robotic vehicle, built for one job: to reach NASA's Swift Observatory, grab it, and push it into a higher orbit.
Swift is sinking. Without help, the telescope will fall back to Earth this fall. That deadline is the reason the mission exists, and it is the reason the timeline was so compressed. The rescue effort was put together in under a year, which is fast by the standards of spaceflight.
NASA is paying $30 million for the effort. Katalyst is a startup, and this mission puts its approach to the test in the most public way possible: the capture and boost of a government telescope that was not designed to be grabbed by a robotic servicer.
The company says it is working nonstop to get Link back in action. The reporting available so far does not say what caused the thruster failures, how fast the spacecraft is spinning, or how much communication has been lost. It also does not say whether the company has a recovery plan beyond the round-the-clock effort it describes.
What happens next depends on whether Katalyst can stop the spin and restore reliable contact. Only then can Link move on to its real task of reaching Swift. With the telescope's descent continuing toward fall, the question is whether the company can recover its spacecraft in time to attempt the capture.
Citas Notables
The company said it is working nonstop to get Link back in action so it can capture Swift and boost it to a higher orbit.— Katalyst Space Technologies
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