Cape Canaveral, Florida (AP) – A spacecraft with three arms launched into orbit on Friday to rescue a NASA telescope rapidly losing altitude and at risk of falling back to Earth. Northrop Grumman launched the Katalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. The Pegasus rocket took off from the belly of a modified aircraft, placing Link en route to reach and capture NASA’s Swift Observatory in about a month.

Launched in 2004, the Swift Observatory is descending faster than ever due to recent solar storms. NASA paid $30 million to Katalyst to capture the telescope and elevate its orbit to continue tracking some of the universe’s largest explosions, such as gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars. If successful, Swift could resume scanning the cosmos by September.

Observations are currently paused to maintain the telescope’s orbit for as long as possible. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope might be a candidate for a similar rescue operation in a few years, as it is also losing altitude due to increased atmospheric drag caused by solar eruptions.

Currently, Swift, weighing 1.6 tons, is orbiting 360 kilometers (224 miles) above Earth. Katalyst intends to lift the telescope 240 kilometers (150 miles) back to where it all began. Link’s thrusters will be triggered to gradually boost Swift without causing severe jolts. Katalyst assembled the mission swiftly, within nine months, as NASA required urgency due to the telescope’s predicted low altitude by fall.

Without intervention, it is anticipated that Swift will face its demise in October. The launch faced several last-minute delays due to bad weather and technical issues. “This is a high-risk, high-reward mission,” stated Katalyst Space CEO Ghonhee Lee before the launch. “The greatest danger was never launching and letting Swift burn up in the atmosphere. Our team succeeded in averting that risk.”

The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Department and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP holds sole responsibility for all content.

Note: This article was translated from English by an AP editor with the assistance of a generative AI tool.