NASA's rescue spacecraft experiences attitude-control failure, spins out of control
NASA's Katalyst LINK spacecraft, launched to boost the Swift Observatory, suffered reaction-wheel and thruster problems that left it spinning and intermittently communicating.
NASA announced that the Katalyst LINK servicing spacecraft, sent earlier this month to raise the Swift Observatory to a stable orbit, encountered serious attitude-control issues. The vehicle’s two of three reaction wheels stopped working, and a malfunction in its cold-gas thruster system added to maneuvering difficulties, leaving the craft in a multiaxis spin and causing sporadic communications.
"Katalyst's LINK servicing spacecraft experienced issues with attitude control, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications," NASA said in a blog post.
Swift, which suffered a reaction-wheel failure in 2022, was able to recover thanks to redundant wheels. LINK, however, has only three reaction wheels and no additional redundancy. The Katalyst team said it is working to stabilize the spacecraft and hopes to regain control, rendezvous with Swift and complete the mission. Failure to do so could allow Swift’s orbit to continue decaying, potentially ending the telescope’s operational life.