NASA Highlights Lessons Learned From Swift Boost Mission

A commercial mission to boost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory concluded without raising the spacecraft's orbit, but NASA and its industry partner Katalyst Space gained experience that the agency says will benefit future in-space servicing programs. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters, called it "a high-risk, high-reward mission," noting that without intervention Swift was going to re-enter the atmosphere by year's end, and that the boost effort was valuable on multiple levels — advancing U.S. spacecraft servicing technology, challenging the agency to meet unprecedented mission timelines, and testing how it operates satellites to extend their time in low Earth orbit.

Swift launched in November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. Over two decades the observatory revolutionized understanding of how the universe works, covering everything from comets and asteroids in our solar system to various types of cosmic explosions and flares from black holes in distant galaxies.

All spacecraft in low Earth orbit experience drag from the planet's atmosphere; without propulsion systems, that drag gradually lowers their altitude, and a period of increased solar activity magnified the effect on Swift. After deciding to investigate a possible boost, NASA had only a few months to issue a call for proposals through its Center of Excellence for Collaborative Engineering and fund design concept studies through its Small Business Innovation Research program. In September 2025 the agency contracted Flagstaff, Arizona-based Katalyst, which had roughly one year to design, build, test and launch a satellite that would meet, grab and lift Swift. The LINK spacecraft launched in July from Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, an option Katalyst selected as best for reaching the observatory on the condensed timeline given the mission's orbital and programmatic needs.

After reaching space and completing initial checkouts, LINK began experiencing intermittent communications losses and developed issues with its orientation control. Following around-the-clock troubleshooting by both teams, NASA and Katalyst agreed to scale back the mission: rather than grabbing or boosting Swift, LINK would attempt a series of technology demonstrations to advance the U.S. commercial servicing industry, including exercising its xenon-powered propulsion system and three robotic arms.