A relatively small yet highly ambitious aerospace startup is captivating the whole space industry with its bold idea: saving from reentry into Earth’s atmosphere the very famous Swift Observatory from NASA. Katalyst, a newcomer in the space technology sector, is working on strategies to not only keep running but also serve new science with one of the most fruitful astronomical facilities in orbit. Satellite servicing and orbital sustainability may well be brought closer to reality.
For about 20 years, the Swift Observatory managed by NASA has been a cornerstone for deepening mankind’s cosmic knowledge. This spacecraft came into operation in 2004 with a mission to pinpoint and study gamma-ray bursts – those explosions of energy that still puzzle the scientists. Still, to the delight of many, the scope of work for Swift went on to include not just monitoring of black holes and neutron stars but also the exploration supernovae, and even cometary astronomy.
Still, the observatory after so many years of exceeding the mission goals finds itself in the same situation as many other satellites of its age. Due to its low altitude sun-synchronous Earth orbit, it continually comes down because of the air resistance in the atmosphere. As a consequence, the spacecraft without any activity will more and more descend until it reenters the Earth’s atmospheric and incinerates.
Katalyst wants to add its voice to a topic which is gaining momentum – how orbital servicing of satellites might become a key aspect of the space economy in the future. The aim is to extend satellite lifetimes and capabilities by their return to orbit with new skills. Taking to space again is not the only option as lesser risk and cost are connected to repairing refueling repositioning, and upgrading existing space assets.
Based on the startup, Swift is still highly capable of carrying out scientifically significant work and should be kept in orbit for further astronomical research. Thanks to their services that represent quite literally a life-line, they believe that a spacecraft that has delivered thousands of scientific observations and has been an indispensable tool for modern astrophysics can be sustained in orbit.
Such endeavors echo a transformation occurring worldwide in various sectors of reindustralizations and reuses at different levels using foundational technologies and institutions. After a satellite retirement almost decommissions a satellite until a new replacement is ready, pragmatic switches being made First and foremost due to / prompting a livable-and sustainable concept / presage that savings are coming from reusing or extending the use of existing resources, products, and assets rather than discarding/procuring.
The progenitors of modern astronomy are the rather swift capabilities of the observatory to catch and follow up on events that occur and disappear in the cosmic flash of an eye only. This has made it quite a powerful and productive means of obtaining data that can be exploited to investigate the physics of such explosions in which the energy released during just a few seconds may be largely superior to the total energy output that our Sun can emit over its entire lifetime.
Scientists from around the globe are still heavily dependent on the information provided by Swift. There are numerous occasions when the spacecraft is teamed with other observatories to exchange/prep complementary observations to produce a more detailed and continuous view of the events in question. Not only the preservation of this mission but also the data derived from it might help in various scientific endeavors carried out by the global astronomy community.
Revolutionary results of launching into space cheaply and more often and the subsequent growth of space-related technologies point to the dire need of the earth system and spacecraft project managers to seriously consider spacecraft servicing as a feasible choice. The movement to create a fleet of servicing vehicles that can dock inspect manipulate, repair, and/or provide propulsion to a satellite has in fact already begun.
