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Robot Surgeon in Space: NASA Prepares to Send Rescue Craft to Save a Falling Telescope

Katalyst Space Technologies is preparing to launch its LINK robotic servicing spacecraft aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL air-launched rocket in late June 2026 to rescue NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, whose low-Earth orbit is rapidly decaying due to heightened solar activity after 21 years in space. LINK weighs 400 kilograms and is equipped with three robotic arms, lidar imaging, and autonomous navigation systems to independently rendezvous with, inspect, and boost Swift to a higher and more stable orbit. The mission marks the world's first commercial satellite rescue operation, backed by a 30 million dollar NASA contract, with a media preview set for June 17 at the agency's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.