NASA Telescope Rescue

Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft launched Friday on a NASA-backed mission to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which is losing altitude and could reenter Earth’s atmosphere by year’s end without intervention. Northrop Grumman carried Link to orbit for the mission, which followed a last-minute launch delay earlier in the week. Link is designed to rendezvous with Swift and use three robotic arms to grab the telescope, which was not built for servicing. If the capture works, the spacecraft will raise Swift’s orbit so it can continue observing gamma-ray bursts.