Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
'If it's possible, it must be done': Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has his eyes on missions to Mars and VenusInterstellar invader comet 3I/ATLAS could be investigated by these spacecraft as it races past the sun: 'This could be literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'Space ExplorationSpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of private Griffin moon lander delayed to 2026Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Today , we learned how Katalyst's spacecraft will get off the ground — aboard Pegasus, an air-launched rocket built by aerospace giant Northrop Grumman.
Blue Origin lands huge New Glenn rocket booster for 1st time after acing Mars ESCAPADE launch for NASA 'If it's possible, it must be done': Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has his eyes on missions to Mars and Venus Did a NASA exoplanet-hunting balloon really 'crash' in Texas? Not according to the scientist behind the flight The $500 million Swift observatory was built by Orbital Sciences, a company that in 2014 became Orbital ATK, which was then acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018. The space telescope has been studyingBut that orbit has decayed considerably over the years, from an initial 373 miles to about 249 miles today. As Swift gets lower and lower, it encounters more frictional drag from, and there's no replacement mission in the works. So NASA decided to fund a rescue effort, leveraging the capabilities of private industry to meet a tight timeline. Katalyst won that contract. And the company has decided that Pegasus — which fires up its solid rocket motors after being dropped by Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft at an elevation of about 39,000 feet — is the right launcher for the job.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors "It's the only launch vehicle that can meet the orbit, the schedule and the cost to achieve something unprecedented with emerging technology," Katalyst CEO Ghonhee Lee said in a statement today. Pegasus is capable of hauling about 1,000 pounds of payload to LEO. The rocket debuted in 1990 and has 45 missions under its belt to date, 40 of them fully successful. Pegasus flew most recentlyNorthrop Grumman already had the rocket hardware for this coming mission pretty much ready to go, according to Kurt Eberly, director of space launch for the company. Blue Origin lands huge New Glenn rocket booster for 1st time after acing Mars ESCAPADE launch for NASA 'If it's possible, it must be done': Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has his eyes on missions to Mars and Venus Did a NASA exoplanet-hunting balloon really 'crash' in Texas? Not according to the scientist behind the flight "We have to do some final integration and test, and we have to develop the trajectory and the guidance for the RAAN steering and software, but that's really it," Eberly told Space.com. Katalyst's mission will fly on a Pegasus XL, a slightly longer and more massive version of the air-launched rocket. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the total budget of the Swift rescue mission is $30 million, including launch. The Pegasus XL will launch in June 2026, if all goes according to plan. And there's not much wiggle room in that target, considering how quickly Swift is coming down. "We are treating this launch date as a firm commitment," Kieran Wilson, vice president of technology at Katalyst, told Space.com."We'll kind of continuously evaluate where Swift stands in its orbital decay and figure out what sort of adaptations we might need to pursue, whether it's launching to a different altitude, whether it's targeting slightly different insertions." The Katalyst spacecraft will head to an orbit similar to that of Swift, then spend two to three weeks closing in on the observatory. The boost vehicle will inspect its target"from reasonable standoff distances, to allow us to get high-resolution imagery and understand the current state," Wilson said. Once that state is understood, the rescuer — which is about 4.9 feet tall and weighs 770 pounds — will close in and capture Swift using its three robotic arms. This will be challenging, as the NASA observatory was not designed to be serviced. And Swift has super-sensitive optics, which cannot be pointed toward So Katalyst has been poring over old prelaunch photos of Swift and consulting with teams from NASA and Northrop Grumman to figure out the best and safest way to grab the observatory. "There's a lot of really fun detective work going on behind the scenes, in order to determine what points on the spacecraft we can actually capture and what the states are going to be," Wilson said. After a successful capture, the Katalyst spacecraft will haul Swift back up to its initial altitude of 373 miles or so, if all goes to plan. "That lasted it 22 years the first time," Wilson said."We expect to provide a similar amount of on-orbit longevity this time around." A successful boost would be historic, marking the first-ever capture of an uncrewed U.S. government satellite by a private spacecraft. above Earth. That flight will mark the debut of Katalyst's larger Nexus spacecraft,"a multi-mission robotic platform to serve both government and commercial customers for life extension and space domain awareness services," Wilson said. and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life,"Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.'If it's possible, it must be done': Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has his eyes on missions to Mars and Venus
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Cult Gaia Resort 2026 CollectionCult Gaia Resort 2026 collection, runway looks, beauty, models, and reviews.
Read more »
2026 World Cup Playoffs: Dates, Schedule, Teams InvolvedA number of prominent countries face a nail-biting playoff journey.
Read more »
Vanity Fair’s 2026 Hollywood Issue Cover Stars Reveal Their Favorite YouTube VideosPaul Mescal likes ‘The Office,’ A$AP Rocky loves Tim Burton, and more picks from Hollywood’s new class of leading men.
Read more »
Euclid space telescope sees gorgeous cosmic cloud | Space photo of the day for Nov. 18, 2025Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Content Manager at Space.com. Formerly, she was the Science Communicator at JILA, a physics research institute. Kenna is also a freelance science journalist. Her beats include quantum technology, AI, animal intelligence, corvids, and cephalopods.
Read more »
Housing Advocate Rae Huang Enters Los Angeles Mayoral Race in 2026Rae Huang, deputy director of Housing Now California, is running for mayor of Los Angeles in 2026, challenging incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and former LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner. Her platform focuses on housing, public transit, worker protection, and public safety.
Read more »
Motorist group demands Murphy or Sherrill veto 2026 Turnpike, Parkway toll hikeBoth Gov. Phil Murphy and Gov.-Elect Mikie Sherrill were call on to stop the New Jersey Turnpike Authority's 3% annual toll increase as costs and inflation increases.
Read more »