{"id":3160,"date":"2026-07-04T23:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/nasa-launched-an-emergency-mission-to-stop-the-swift-observatory-from-crashing-to-earth\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T23:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:06:27","slug":"nasa-launched-an-emergency-mission-to-stop-the-swift-observatory-from-crashing-to-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/nasa-launched-an-emergency-mission-to-stop-the-swift-observatory-from-crashing-to-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA launched an emergency mission to stop the Swift Observatory from crashing to Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Engineers from Katalyst Space Technologies in Flagstaff, Ariz., stabilize their LINK robotic servicing spacecraft as it moves into a vibration chamber at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on April 15, 2026. The vibration chamber simulated the intense shaking LINK will experience during launch.\" data-caption=\"Engineers from Katalyst Space Technologies testing Link. | Image: NASA\/Scott Wiessinger\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: NASA\/Scott Wiessinger\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Testing-Link-Vibration-tests-2_4000x2600.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" \/><figcaption>\n\tEngineers from Katalyst Space Technologies testing Link. | Image: NASA\/Scott Wiessinger\t<\/figcaption><\/p><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Swift Observatory was launched in 2004, but recent solar storms have pushed its orbit lower, and it&rsquo;s in danger of burning up in Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere as soon as this year. To try and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/aerospace-defense\/space-startup-katalyst-launches-orbital-rescue-mission-aging-nasa-observatory-2026-07-03\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stave off its demise<\/a>, NASA has <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/swift-nasa-satellite-rescue-katalyst-a7ddd740ca099587c58865f583c7245a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">enlisted<\/a> Katalyst Space Technologies. The company&rsquo;s Link spacecraft launched Friday with the goal of intercepting Swift, which has no propulsion system, and <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/swift\/swift-boost-mission\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">boosting its orbit<\/a> back to its original position. Right now, Swift is circling at an altitude of 224 miles, and Link is aiming to raise that by about 150 miles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using a three-armed spacecraft to lift a satellite 150 miles higher into orbit is challenging enough, but the spee \u2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/science\/961459\/nasa-emergency-save-swift-observatory-katalyst-space-technologies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the full story at The Verge.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Engineers from Katalyst Space Technologies testing Link. | Image: NASA\/Scott Wiessinger The Swift Observatory was launched in 2004, but recent [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3160\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}