NASA Launches Robotic Servicing Mission to Rescue Aging Swift Observatory

NASA's Swift Boost mission launches in June 2026 aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL, deploying Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK robotic spacecraft to rendezvous with and raise Swift's orbit. The 22-year-old gamma-ray telescope has lost altitude due to atmospheric drag; without intervention, its operational window closes. LINK will execute the boost autonomously, keeping Swift's Burst Alert Telescope—a key global detector network node—operational. The mission tests robotic servicing on an unmodified science asset, rare operational validation of in-space repair for aging missions.