NASA, Katalyst Scrap $30 Million Swift Reboost Mission as Link Attitude Failures Persist
Updated
Updated · SpaceNews · Aug 19
NASA, Katalyst Scrap $30 Million Swift Reboost Mission as Link Attitude Failures Persist
3 articles · Updated · SpaceNews · Aug 19
Summary
Katalyst and NASA said Link will no longer try to grapple and raise Swift’s orbit, ending the rescue effort and leaving the observatory on track to reenter later this year.
Two failed reaction wheels and only partially working thrusters had sent Link into a multi-axis spin after its July 3 launch; controllers later cut the rate from 9 degrees per second to 1.47.
Link will still conduct rendezvous and proximity operations near Swift, with Katalyst saying the remaining mission time will be used to gather lessons for future satellite-servicing work.
Swift, launched in 2004 and now orbiting at 343 to 347 kilometers, was losing altitude faster than expected because heightened solar activity increased atmospheric drag.
NASA awarded Katalyst the reboost job in September after feasibility studies a year ago, framing the first-of-its-kind mission as a high-risk test of rapid-response servicing capabilities.
With Swift doomed to burn up, will this $30 million failure permanently derail NASA's plans to save the iconic Hubble Space Telescope?
What hidden engineering flaws caused the rescue spacecraft to spin out of control just weeks before reaching the dying observatory?
Could abandoning legacy satellites to burn in the atmosphere actually be safer than risking catastrophic collisions during experimental commercial rescues?