Listen to this articleDear 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated using AI-based technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve results. The mission to save NASA’s sinking Swift Observatory was canceled Wednesday, dooming the telescope to a fiery re-entry later this year. NASA and Katalyst Space Technologies announced the news more than a month after the startup’s Link spacecraft launched to rescue the telescope. Katalyst said Link will not attempt to capture Swift and take it to a higher orbit due to problems with the control of the spacecraft. NASA said this means the telescope will pass through the atmosphere after more than 20 years of tracking some of the biggest explosions in the universe, such as gamma ray bursts and exploding stars. Its disappearance is not expected before October. NASA paid $30 million to Katalyst in an attempt to raise the telescope to a safer, longer-lasting orbit. Intense solar activity caused it to lose altitude faster than expected. The rescue spacecraft entered an uncontrollable spin a few weeks after liftoff in early July. While flight controllers managed to slow Link’s fall, problems continued to affect its orientation and positioning in orbit. “This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. As a consolation prize, Katalyst will continue to operate Link near the telescope to demonstrate capabilities for future rescue operations. Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee said it was an ambitious mission on an aggressive timeline that was accomplished in less than a year. “We took on this high-risk, high-reward challenge and are proud of the milestones we achieved along the way,” Lee said in a statement. “We’ve already learned a lot.” Launched in 2004, Swift’s scientific instruments were turned off earlier this year to slow its descent. On Wednesday it was orbiting at an altitude of 345 kilometers. Katalyst hoped to return the telescope to its original 600-kilometer orbit, allowing for many more years of cosmic observations. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope could benefit from an orbital boost and would have been next in line for a rescue attempt if this mission had gone well. The 36-year-old Hubble is also falling into orbit due to the sun’s recent outbursts. It was not immediately known whether Hubble is now out of luck.
