NASA says mission to save satellite has failed

A mission to save NASA's Swift space telescope has failed. The telescope, which studies powerful explosions in the universe, will likely plunge back to Earth and disintegrate later this year.

The rescue spacecraft, called Link, was developed by Katalyst Space and launched on July 3 to approach the observatory, which is about 347km in space. However, Link suffered technical issues, including an out-of-control spin and loss of communication, and was unable to overcome its problems to rescue the Swift telescope.

The mission was unprecedented and cost $30 million. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the mission was worth attempting, as it could have paved the way for giving other satellites a second life and advancing capabilities for satellite servicing in the future. Despite the failure, Link will still attempt a rendezvous with Swift to practice proximity operations and demonstrate its capabilities.

Brief written by urgent.news from Le Monde English, South China Morning Post, Punch, Punch Nigeria, Space.com — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.