The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has seen its rescue operation for a space telescope end in failure. A privately built rescue spacecraft launched on the 3rd of last month tried to dock with the space telescope, whose altitude had dropped, to extend its life, but as the chances of success dimmed, NASA decided to abandon the telescope.
NASA announced on the 19th (local time), "As attitude control issues persist with Catalyst Space's LINK (L.I.N.C) spacecraft, we will not extend the science mission to dock with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory space telescope and raise its orbit." The Swift space telescope is expected to fall into the atmosphere and burn up around the end of this year.
Swift, launched in November 2004, observed gamma-ray bursts—the final moments of stars—for 22 years, but its altitude has plunged recently after being buffeted by high-energy particles ejected from the sun. When it was first launched, its mission orbit was 600 kilometers above Earth, but over the past two years it has dropped to 360 kilometers.
In September last year, NASA signed a $30 million (about 41.7 billion won) contract with Catalyst to extend the Swift mission. Catalyst developed LINK (L.I.N.C), a spacecraft to raise Swift's altitude, in eight months. LINK's mission was to grab the space telescope with three robotic arms, ignite its engine, and raise its altitude to a normal orbit over three months.
But LINK (L.I.N.C) malfunctioned late last month, failing to control its attitude and continuing to spin. Catalyst engineers operated the spacecraft's thrusters over the following two weeks to curb the spinning, but NASA is said to have concluded that, in its current state, it would be difficult to raise Swift's altitude as planned.
NASA said that, separate from halting the Swift space telescope rescue mission, it will continue attempting a rendezvous between LINK (L.I.N.C) and Swift to demonstrate key capabilities for future space exploration. A rendezvous refers to spacecraft or satellites meeting in the same orbit and flying side by side.
Jared Isaacman, NASA Director General, said, "NASA must be willing to move quickly when the potential payoff is worth it and to take smart risks," adding, "This is not the outcome we aimed for, but the reasons this mission was worth attempting have not changed."
NASA said it will collect as much data as possible through the rendezvous between LINK (L.I.N.C) and Swift so it can inform future satellite servicing operations. That is because it cannot give up on extending satellite lifespans, which is viewed as a new business that could lay golden eggs.
Extending the lifespan of satellites carries immense economic value. Communications and Earth observation satellites each cost more than several hundred billion won to build, but once they run out of fuel or their software becomes outdated, they are simply discarded. According to the satellite industry, more than 20 large communications satellites retire each year as they run out of fuel. Extending the lifespans of such satellites by 15 years each could yield economic gains worth trillions of won.