Key facts
- Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK satellite is experiencing an uncontrollable spin.
- The LINK satellite was designed to boost NASA's Swift Observatory into a higher orbit.
- The mission aims to save the Swift Observatory from reentry.
- Two of the LINK satellite's three reaction wheels are inoperable.
- Reaction wheel and thruster issues are causing the uncontrolled spin.
- Attitude control and communications are impacted by the reaction wheel failures.
- The rescue mission is jeopardized by these malfunctions.
Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK satellite, a private spacecraft designed to rescue NASA's aging Swift Observatory by boosting it into a higher orbit, is experiencing critical issues that have sent it into an uncontrollable spin. The mission is jeopardized by malfunctioning reaction wheels and thruster problems. Specifically, two of the satellite's three reaction wheels are inoperable. This failure significantly impacts the satellite's attitude control and its ability to maintain communications. The LINK robot was intended to prevent the Swift observatory from reentering Earth's atmosphere. The current state of the LINK satellite puts the entire rescue mission at risk.