NASA Ends Swift Telescope Mission After Unsuccessful Rescue Attempt

NASA confirmed on Friday, Oct. 23, that the Swift space telescope's mission has ended after more than two decades of operation. The agency said the aging observatory, launched in November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy phenomena, will reenter Earth's atmosphere in the coming weeks.

The termination follows a rescue attempt by Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies, which was contracted in September 2025 to develop a spacecraft, named LINK, to rendezvous with Swift, grapple it with robotic arms and raise its orbit. LINK launched on July 3 but encountered propulsion and reaction-wheel problems three weeks later, causing it to spin and miss the capture attempt. The craft did approach within 12 to 15 kilometers of Swift and photograph it.

"In that time, Swift played a major role in advancing our understanding of the changing universe and was part of a revolution in astrophysics that showed how critical rapid-response observations are to the entire community," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division. He added that the rescue effort, while not successful, provided valuable experience for U.S. spacecraft servicing technology.

Swift, renamed the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in 2018, gathered its final scientific data on Oct. 20. Over its lifespan, the telescope observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts, 1,400 supernovae, and conducted surveys of asteroids, comets and black holes, contributing to roughly 7,000 published papers.