NASA's attempted satellite rescue mission fails, space telescope to burn up in the atmosphere

NASA's audacious attempt to rescue a space telescope from burning up in Earth's atmosphere has come to an end, the agency announced on Wednesday. The Swift space telescope, which studies some of the most energetic events in the cosmos, will likely re-enter the atmosphere and disintegrate later this year. The $30 million mission aimed to send a robot to grab the telescope and maneuver it to a safer orbit.

However, the unmanned spacecraft responsible for the rescue, developed by the American company Katalyst and launched by a Pegasus rocket on July 3, became uncontrollable and lost communication for 72 hours. Katalyst and NASA cited ongoing attitude control issues as the reason for abandoning the mission. Despite the failure, NASA plans to use the incident as a learning opportunity for future satellite servicing missions. The Swift telescope, launched in 2004, has been observing gamma-ray bursts.