The mission will see Katalyst’s servicing spacecraft rendezvous with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory – launched in 2004 to study gamma ray bursts – and push it into a higher orbit, extending its science mission.
Swift, which has provided two decades of breakthrough discoveries into cosmic explosions, black holes and stellar activity, is currently in low-Earth orbit. The spacecraft has been steadily losing altitude, a process worsened by increased solar activity, which creates more atmospheric drag. Without intervention, Swift would eventually re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
Rather than let the observatory decay, NASA is seizing the chance to advance space servicing technology. If successful, the 2026 operation will mark the first time a commercial robotic spacecraft has captured and boosted a satellite that was never designed for in-orbit servicing.
Nicky Fox, head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said the project underscored the agency’s push for rapid, commercial-led innovation.
“By moving quickly to pursue innovative commercial solutions, we’re further developing the space industry and strengthening American space leadership,” Fox said. “This daring mission will demonstrate our ability to go from concept to implementation in less than a year.”
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of NASA’s astrophysics division, said the agency was “in a race against the clock” as Swift’s orbit decayed faster than expected.
“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 said.
NASA awarded the contract through its Small Business Innovation Research program, which provides early-stage funding for US firms developing advanced technologies. The streamlined approach allowed the Swift boost to move ahead on a compressed timeline.
Clayton Turner, NASA’s associate administrator for space technology, said the trial could pave the way for future spacecraft life-extension missions.
“Orbital decay is a common occurrence for satellites, and this collaboration may open the door to extending the life of more spacecraft in the future,” he said.
Managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center with international partners, including the UK Space Agency, University of Leicester, Italian Space Agency and Los Alamos National Laboratory, Swift continues to act as the agency’s “dispatcher” in the high-energy universe, rapidly alerting other observatories to cosmic events as they unfold.