WASHINGTON, United States: The NASA Swift rescue mission brought a private spacecraft within 15 kilometres of the ageing observatory Tuesday, but low fuel prevented an attempted orbital boost.
Katalyst Space Technologies said its Link spacecraft photographed Swift and collected sensor data for NASA during the close approach.
The company had already abandoned the rescue effort in August after Link developed problems in orbit. Link entered an uncontrolled spin soon after launching toward Swift in July.
Flight controllers eventually stabilised the spacecraft, but the recovery consumed fuel that would otherwise have been used to raise Swift into a higher orbit.
Katalyst chief executive Ghonhee Lee said the company assembled the mission in nine months. He said engineers sometimes used available components rather than waiting for preferred parts because of the compressed schedule.
NASA paid Katalyst USD 30 million for the experimental mission. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the unsuccessful attempt could still provide lessons for future spacecraft-servicing operations.
Read: Nancy Grace Roman Telescope Set for August 30 Launch
Swift launched in 2004 and had fallen to an altitude of about 208 miles, or 335 kilometres, as of Friday. NASA expects the observatory to reenter Earth’s atmosphere sometime between October and the end of 2026.
Katalyst said Link is unlikely to have enough fuel for another close approach. However, the company plans to continue testing its robotic arms and collecting data before the spacecraft itself reenters the atmosphere.
Read: Black Hole Star Candidate Spotted by Webb Telescope
The company is also developing a next-generation spacecraft that could eventually boost the Hubble Space Telescope into a longer-lasting orbit.
