Rescuing satellites is harder than it looks – a growing space junk problem will make doing so more important

A new mission to save NASA’s Swift observatory shows why catching a satellite that was never designed for rescue is one of the hardest jobs in spaceflight.

By: Wanjiku Chebet Kanjumba, University of Florida, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: July 22, 2026

Words: 1,223

Last Updated: 4 weeks ago

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By Wanjiku Chebet Kanjumba, University of Florida

A commercial robotic spacecraft called LINK launched on an emergency mission to save NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been slowly falling toward Earth, on July 3, 2026. Over the coming weeks, LINK, built by Katalyst Space Technologies, will try to grasp the telescope, then spend months raising it to a safer orbit.

For most of the space age, satellites have been disposable: moved aside or …

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