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U.S. defense agencies tap three companies for satellite disposal study. Firefly, D-Orbit USA and Katalyst will compete to show how commercial operators could capture and remove aging spacecraft WASHINGTON - Three companies have been selected to study options for providing satellite deorbiting services to the U.S. government as the Pentagon explores whether disposal of aging spacecraft can be purchased from commercial operators rather than handled through a dedicated government capability. D-Orbit USA, Firefly Aerospace and Katalyst Space received contracts of undisclosed value from the Defense Innovation Unit and the Space Development Agency for a "deorbit-as-a-service" project, the agencies announced. The work is focused on relocating spacecraft that were not designed to be serviced and may be unable to cooperate with an approaching vehicle. "Through this effort, SDA and DIU are developing a scalable commercial capability to safely rendezvous with, capture and de-orbit unprepared or non-cooperative satellites," the agencies said. "The selected companies will begin with preliminary design and risk-reduction activities, after which SDA and DIU will together evaluate their technical maturity, mission approach, schedule and affordability before deciding which solution proceeds to a full on-orbit demonstration." The awards broaden an SDA effort to develop commercial options for disposing of satellites in its low-Earth-orbit architecture. In 2024, the agency awarded feasibility studies to six companies, including Starfish Space, to examine on-demand deorbit services. The three new participants enter the competition with different levels of flight experience and different approaches to the central problem of reaching and moving a spacecraft that may not have been built for docking or servicing. Firefly said Aug. 13 that it proposed using its Elytra maneuvering spacecraft to rendezvous with a client satellite nearing the end of its life, conduct proximity operations and inspection, and carry out the maneuver needed to dispose of it. Elytra has yet to fly its first mission, although the spacecraft incorporates hardware and software derived from Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar program. Katalyst is pursuing perhaps the most directly relevant test of capturing an unprepared spacecraft. Its Link robotic servicing vehicle launched July 3 on NASA's Swift Boost mission and is intended to rendezvous with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, secure the satellite with robotic arms and raise it to a higher orbit. Link encountered attitude-control problems during commissioning in late July. The company said it uploaded new flight software that restored attitude control using the spacecraft's remaining actuators, allowing preparations for the mission to continue. D-Orbit USA is a startup focused on space logistics services, formed in 2024 as a U.S.-based joint venture between Italy's D-Orbit and a group of American aerospace executives. DIU and SDA have said a viable deorbit service would have to combine several activities into a repeatable operation: getting a servicer into the correct orbit, locating and approaching a target autonomously, determining its attitude and motion, capturing it without generating debris, and supplying enough propulsion to dispose of the combined mass. It would also have to do so at a price that makes commercial procurement attractive.

NASA Swift boost spacecraft prepares to continue mission. WEBWIRE - Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Katalyst Space successfully uploaded a flight software update for its LINK spacecraft, which is set to boost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher orbit. The software update's new attitude control algorithms are designed to maintain LINK's stability using the spacecraft's remaining actuators. The team's work has prepared LINK to continue its approach toward Swift, before attempting to capture and raise Swift to a higher orbital altitude. Katalyst will continue to work closely with NASA, evaluating LINK's performance at each phase, as the team performs a series of burns and maneuvers in the coming days to align LINK's orbit with Swift. In the meantime, the Swift team continues with its innovative new approach to operating the observatory, which has successfully reduced drag and slowed Swift's orbital decay. Swift is currently at an altitude of about 216 miles (347 kilometers). An orbit-raising maneuver would become more difficult below an average altitude of about 185 miles (300 kilometers). Learn more from Katalyst, and monitor NASA's Swift blog for continued updates: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift WebWireID358800 This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted. Distribute your news. * Every day, hundreds of individuals and companies choose WebWire to distribute their news. * WebWire places your news within numerous highly trafficked news search engines generating leads and publicity. * Submit Your Release Now!

A spacecraft sent to rescue NASA's Swift telescope from falling to Earth has begun an uncontrollable spin. The telescope is predicted to crash down to Earth soon if it cannot be grabbed and pushed into a higher orbit. Unfortunately, IFLScience Limited now have a double rescue mission at hand. James Felton Senior Staff Writer James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile Edited by Laura Simmons A private spacecraft sent on a mission to rescue NASA's Swift telescope from crashing back down to the Earth has run into its own problems, going into an uncontrollable spin over the weekend. In 2004, NASA launched the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory into low-Earth orbit, at the height of around 600 kilometers (372 miles). In the two decades since then it has proved invaluable, rapidly detecting and studying high-energy cosmic events, including gamma-ray bursts and supernovae, as well as identifying these targets swiftly for follow-up by other observatories. While the observatory began at a reasonable height, its orbit has decayed over time thanks to atmospheric drag. In 2023, it began to look a little hairy for the telescope, with models showing that it could come crashing down to Earth in the 2030s, or within the next few years. Then 2024 hit the telescope pretty hard. "In 2024, the Sun reached its solar maximum phase, triggering intense space weather that was more active than expected," NASA explained. "The activity caused Earth's atmosphere to expand slightly and increased its drag on Swift. By early 2025, almost all the models had Swift re-entering by the summer of 2026." By the beginning of July 2026, the telescope had descended to 360 kilometers (226 miles) above the Earth, with models now suggesting it has a 90 percent chance of crashing to Earth before 2027. Rather than allowing the telescope to make its final descent, NASA took the opportunity to test out a private mission to attempt to capture it and deliver it once again to a higher orbit, raising it by 240 kilometers (150 miles). That mission was awarded to Katalyst Space Technologies, who designed and built the LINK robotic servicing spacecraft on the tight deadline of only a year. LINK launched on July 3, 2026, and initially seemed to be going well, with the spacecraft on track to approach, survey, grab, and boost the falling telescope. However, over the spacecraft has now gone into a "multi-axis spin" due to technical issues with its altitude control. "Over the weekend, Katalyst's LINK servicing spacecraft experienced issues with attitude control, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications," NASA explained in an update. "Preliminary investigation shows that two of LINK's three reaction wheels currently are not operable, and there is some loss of functionality in its cold gas thruster system." Whilst certainly not ideal, the team is attempting to get the spacecraft under control. With other systems in good health, the team is hopeful that the mission can be rescued, along with an orbiting observatory. "LINK's other major subsystems, electric propulsion, robotics, RPO sensing, and power are functioning properly, as well as S-band and L-band communications," Katalyst added in their own mission update. "Over the coming days, Katalyst will work to reduce the body rates using the gimbaled electric propulsion thrusters and stabilize the spacecraft. We have already begun this series of burns and are seeing the intended effect. " In the coming days, the team intends to update the control schemes of the spacecraft to reflect its current configuration and available, working thrusters. After that, the team will test out this new configuration, before attempting to move the spacecraft towards its target. "While these technical issues require a revised approach, our team is working around the clock alongside our NASA partners," Katalyst added. "The mission remains active and we continue to believe that with these changes, LINK has a viable path to rendezvous with Swift." Should these problems get sorted, LINK still has a tricky task ahead of it, in this first-of-its-kind mission. "Then LINK will approach Swift and complete a visual survey," NASA explains. "The Katalyst team has identified several potential grab points, but after 20 years of wear and tear in space, those locations need to be verified with the Swift team before moving forward." More updates on the mission will come as the double rescue attempt unfolds. Fingers crossed, everybody - IFLScience Limited do not want to lose this telescope. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 21 hours ago