NASA has formally ended the mission of the Swift space telescope after a rescue attempt was unsuccessful. This observatory, which dedicated more than two decades to studying the Universe, is in the process of losing altitude and is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere in the coming weeks.
The rescue operation was conducted by Katalyst Space Technologies, a company based in Arizona, United States. This company developed the spacecraft named LINK with the purpose of reaching the telescope and elevating it to a higher orbit, enabling the continuation of its scientific investigations.
However, the initiative was not successful. Approximately three weeks after its launch, on July 3rd, the LINK spacecraft encountered problems with its propulsion system and the reaction wheels responsible for maintaining its orientation. These failures caused the spacecraft to spin at an unexpected speed, which made capturing and elevating Swift impossible.
Despite the setbacks, LINK managed to approach the observatory and take photographs of it. The separation between the two spacecraft varied between 12 and 15 kilometers, which proved insufficient to complete the planned operation.
Swift was losing altitude due to atmospheric drag and does not have adequate thrusters to neutralize this effect. In September 2025, NASA awarded Katalyst a contract worth US$ 30 million (equivalent to about R$ 162 million) to attempt to save the observatory.
The adopted strategy involved a spacecraft comparable in size to a refrigerator, equipped with three robotic arms. The concept was for LINK to reach Swift, capture it, and guide it to a higher orbit. This mission was pioneering, as no private spacecraft had managed to capture and elevate a satellite that was not designed to receive such maintenance. Speed was also crucial, given that Swift continued to lose altitude while the operation preparation proceeded.
Although the attempt failed to extend the telescope's lifespan, NASA considered the project valuable for fostering the development of robotic maintenance technologies in space and for testing the capacity to execute operations of this magnitude in short periods.
Swift was officially named the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in 2018, in memory of its first principal investigator, who passed away the previous year. With the end of the mission, the observatory will return to Earth's atmosphere in the coming weeks, but the collected data will remain accessible for future scientific research.