You need to watch this mission unfold — Katalyst Space Technologies just launched their Link satellite on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Kwajalein Atoll, and it's arguably one of the coolest aerospace operations right now. NASA put out an SOS because the Swift observatory is literally falling out of orbit and was slated for atmospheric reentry within months; they awarded Katalyst to build this rescue mission in just nine months — a turnaround that would normally take years and speaks volumes about their engineering speed. They chose the rare Pegasus XL specifically because its low-inclination trajectory matched Swift's 20.6° inclination, which would have required an enormous rocket from any coastal launch site instead of just one L-1011 carrying it over to the Pacific for a mid-ocean release.
Link is about half a ton and fully equipped with cameras, sensors, three robotic arms for grabbing Swift, and plasma thrusters once they're connected so both can reach orbit; but here's why this is wild — Swift was never designed to rendezvous or be grabbed by anything, so the team has zero documentation on where capture points even are. They plan a multi-month survey of Swift first while performing joint maneuvers to check whether its insulation still holds up before they dare close the arms in on it. The clock's ticking too because past October Swift drops below 300 kilometers and atmospheric drag makes any rendezvous shot much harder, so this is essentially an orbital rescue mission with no roadmap — which means I will be tracking every update like a hawk for months!
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/katalysts-satellite-rescue-mission-is-now-in-pursuit-of-nasas-swift/
Link is about half a ton and fully equipped with cameras, sensors, three robotic arms for grabbing Swift, and plasma thrusters once they're connected so both can reach orbit; but here's why this is wild — Swift was never designed to rendezvous or be grabbed by anything, so the team has zero documentation on where capture points even are. They plan a multi-month survey of Swift first while performing joint maneuvers to check whether its insulation still holds up before they dare close the arms in on it. The clock's ticking too because past October Swift drops below 300 kilometers and atmospheric drag makes any rendezvous shot much harder, so this is essentially an orbital rescue mission with no roadmap — which means I will be tracking every update like a hawk for months!
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/katalysts-satellite-rescue-mission-is-now-in-pursuit-of-nasas-swift/