Katalyst Space Robot Hired to Lift NASA Telescope Tumbles Out of Control
A Katalyst Space robot launched to grab and raise NASA's Swift telescope to a higher orbit began tumbling after multiple failures. The company is trying to stabilize the spacecraft to salvage the mission.
NASA and Katalyst Space announced today that a robot launched to grab onto a space telescope and lift it to a higher orbit has tumbled out of control after a series of failures. The company is working to stabilize the spacecraft using backup systems before NASA decides whether the mission can continue. This marks the first time the space agency has hired a private company to raise one of its telescopes to a higher orbit, allowing the observatory to operate beyond its planned lifespan.
The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, launched in 2004, is designed to rapidly point at transient cosmic events such as gamma-ray bursts. The spacecraft has been dragged back toward Earth and needs a boost to a higher orbit to keep functioning. The LINK spacecraft was launched on July 3 aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket. Over the past few weeks, flight controllers have been commissioning the spacecraft, activating systems before it rendezvouses with Swift.
However, the spacecraft suffered control issues and began spinning over the weekend. According to NASA, the spin has caused "sporadic communications" with the satellite, likely because its antenna is pointing away from Earth. Two of the three reaction wheels controlling orientation have failed, and there are problems with one thruster system. Flight controllers are trying to recover the spacecraft using another set of thrusters to slow the spin, stating, "we have already begun this series of burns and are seeing the intended effect." Katalyst told TechCrunch that "this remains an active mission, and we continue to move forward with plans to rendezvous with Swift."
Katalyst's principal investigator Kieran Wilson said before the mission that the spacecraft was built very quickly due to the urgent need to raise Swift in the coming months. "All this is challenging and risky," he said. "There’re a lot of spacecraft that have had far longer development cycles with far more funding behind them that have failed for mundane reasons." Katalyst raised a $12 million round in June from Fortitude Ventures and Geodesic Capital. The company has also won funding from the U.S. military, which is interested in a dynamic vehicle that can service satellites or surveil rival spacecraft.
