NASA awards Katalyst Space contract to reboost Swift spacecraft

WASHINGTON — NASA has awarded a $30 million contract to a startup to aim to spice up the orbit of an astronomy satellite tv for pc earlier than it reenters subsequent yr.

NASA introduced Sept. 24 that Katalyst Space gained a $30 million Small Business Innovation Research Phase 3 contract to reboost the orbit of the Swift spacecraft in spring 2026. Katalyst will ship a spacecraft to dock with Swift and lift its orbit earlier than it makes an uncontrolled reentry, anticipated within the second half of 2026.

Katalyst acquired one in every of two research contracts from NASA on Aug. 11 to look at the feasibility of elevating Swift’s orbit. The different went to a workforce led by Astroscale U.S. and Cambrian Works. The quick research explored how spacecraft already in growth might be used to carry out the maneuver.

“Given how quickly Swift’s orbit is decaying, we are in a race against the clock, but by leveraging commercial technologies that are already in development, we are meeting this challenge head-on,” Shawn Domagal-Goldman, performing director of NASA’s astrophysics division, stated in an announcement.

“This is a forward-leaning, risk-tolerant approach for NASA. But attempting an orbit boost is both more affordable than replacing Swift’s capabilities with a new mission, and beneficial to the nation — expanding the use of satellite servicing to a new and broader class of spacecraft,” he stated.

Katalyst stated it is going to use a low Earth orbit demonstrator of its deliberate LINK geostationary servicing spacecraft for the reboost. That demonstrator, already scheduled to launch in 2026, would dock with Swift and lift its orbit.

LINK will use a custom-built mechanism to connect to Swift, which lacks interfaces to help servicing. Successfully doing so, Katalyst argues, would reveal the power to service spacecraft not outfitted with docking or comparable techniques, opening new industrial and nationwide safety markets.

“This is about saving a world-class science asset while proving the United States can execute rapid, on-orbit response,” Ghonhee Lee, chief government of Katalyst Space, stated in an announcement.

Sarah Bradley, operations lead at Katalyst, informed SpaceInformation the corporate plans to start out spacecraft meeting, integration and testing in December. “We’re confident in our ability to execute on this incredibly tight timeline, with less than eight months to delivery,” she stated.

Bradley stated the $30 million contract will absolutely fund the mission, together with launch, though the corporate has not disclosed launch plans for LINK. The firm estimates the mission will price $10 million plus launch. Swift’s uncommon orbit — with an inclination of about 20 levels — would require a devoted launch.

Katalyst, primarily based in Flagstaff, Arizona, has not flown its personal mission. In April 2024 it acquired Atomos Space, which flew a mission in March 2024 to check rendezvous, docking and refueling applied sciences. The two spacecraft on that mission, nevertheless, suffered a number of technical issues throughout commissioning.

Related