Air-launched antique picked for tricky low-inclination orbit job

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, facing the risk of an uncontrolled dive back to Earth, is set for a rescue ride on a Pegasus XL, the air-dropped rocket that hasn't flown since 2021.

Flagstaff-based Katalyst has announced that the rocket to launch its LINK spacecraft on a rescue mission will be Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL air-launched vehicle. Assuming the mission launches in June 2026 as planned, it will be five years since the last flight of the Pegasus XL.

Time is running out for the venerable NASA observatory. In September, the agency reckoned there was a 50 percent chance of an uncontrolled reentry by mid-2026, increasing to 90 percent by the end of the year. Although the spacecraft was launched in 2004, it remains operational and could continue to capture data on gamma-ray bursts if boosted to a higher orbit.

NASA awarded Katalyst Space Technologies a $30 ...