A space telescope is falling to Earth. NASA plans a mission to rescue it

WASHINGTON - NASA is planning a daring mission to stave off the death of one of its space telescopes that is in danger of falling back to Earth.

The Swift Observatory has been observing the cosmos for more than two decades while orbiting around Earth. But in recent years, NASA has noticed that the critical satellite has begun unexpectedly getting lower and lower – putting it in danger of burning up in Earth's atmosphere.

Now, the U.S. space agency is preparing to mount a rescue mission later in June – the likes of which has never before been attempted. What's more, the plan to save Swift from a fiery demise has been in the works for less than a year.

If all goes to plan, a commercial spacecraft would launch on a commercial rocket on a trajectory to intercept NASA's telescope and reverse its decaying orbit by boosting it to a higher altitude, extending the mission’s life. A successful mission would mark the first time that a commercial robotic spacecraft captured a government satellite that – unlike other spacecraft like the Hubble Space Telescope – was never meant to be serviced in space.

Launched in 2004, NASA's Swift Observatory has spent more than two decades orbiting Earth while studying a variety of cosmic phenomena. The satellite's primary objective, though, is to observe gamma-ray bursts – events triggered by the catastrophic deaths of massive stars and considered to be the most powerful types of explosions in the universe.

The satellite is equipped with three multiwavelength telescopes that are able to collect data in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray light.

Swift space telescope falls faster to Earth than expected

The Swift Observatory is in a region of space known as low-Earth orbit nearer to the atmosphere, which is also where the International Space Station resides.

All spacecraft in that region can expect to fall to lower altitudes if they don't have propulsion systems to counteract atmospheric drag and maintain their orbits. But the Swift Observatory has fallen faster than NASA has anticipated because of increased solar storms since fall 2024.

NASA plans mission to rescue Swift

NASA could allow the Swift Observatory to fall back to Earth, where it would harmlessly burn up as it careened into the atmosphere.

Instead, the space agency is planning a mission to rescue the telescope and extend its mission for several more years. The venture would be unprecedented, but NASA leaders say it would simultaneously test a new capability that could be used on other missions while negating the need to spend even more money to replace the observatory.

The risky plan involves launching a spacecraft tasked with capturing Swift and raising its orbit throughout the course of several months, according to NASA. In the meantime, mission teams on the ground are keeping Swift at least 185 miles above Earth, where the boost mission has the best chance of success, NASA said. (Source: USA Today)