LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space company Katalyst Space Technologies announced Friday that its robotic spacecraft LINK had deorbited and reentered Earth's atmosphere, concluding a mission designed to rendezvous with, capture and raise the orbit of NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.
LINK was launched into orbit on July 3 to approach, capture and boost Swift Observatory to a higher orbit, extending the satellite's operational life.
However, LINK encountered an issue affecting its attitude control during commissioning. Engineers restored partial attitude control using thrusters and a remaining reaction wheel, but the resulting operation increased propellant consumption.
Katalyst and NASA subsequently determined that LINK no longer had sufficient fuel to safely carry out the planned capture and orbit-raising phase. Instead, the spacecraft continued operations focused on exercising its systems and gathering rendezvous and proximity operations data, Katalyst said.
LINK approached to within 12 to 15 km of Swift and conducted a series of engineering tests, including tests of the three robotic arms, lifetime testing and simulated capture operations with the robotic grippers, according to Katalyst.
LINK operated in orbit for 85 days, generating valuable flight data and operational experience that will inform the next generation of spacecraft, the company said.
Katalyst was awarded the contract for the mission in September 2025 and launched LINK in July this year. From receiving the contract to flight, the company designed, built, tested and launched LINK within nine months as part of the 30-million-U.S.-dollar mission, according to Katalyst. ■
