Katalyst's Swift rescue mission tests commercial servicing at its limits

Katalyst Space Technologies launched its Link spacecraft on July 3, 2026, to dock with NASA's Swift Observatory and boost its decaying orbit by 150 miles. The maneuver—performed against a non-cooperative target on a nine-month delivery schedule—will be the first major test of in-space servicing under operational constraints previous missions never faced. Success would validate the commercial model for preserving aging satellites.