Swift telescope ends 22-year orbit with reentry near Indonesia
NASA's gamma-ray observator burned up or broke apart after a failed rescue attempt in July, while the agency now looks to private firms to save Hubble by 2032.
By Elena Castillo ·
The Swift Observatory ended its mission on Wednesday by reentering Earth's atmosphere near Indonesia. The spacecraft had been orbiting since 2004 to study cosmic explosions. The U.S. Space Force tracked the final descent, which was caused by increased solar activity that thickened the atmosphere and slowed the telescope's orbit.
The reentry occurred less than three months after a planned rescue failed. NASA hired Katalyst Space in July to launch a robotic craft designed to boost Swift's orbit. The three-armed vehicle encountered problems after launch and crashed in September. This left Swift with no way to extend its life, leading to its uncontrolled fall.
Swift was originally designed for a two-year mission to observe gamma-ray bursts and exploding stars. It operated for 22 years, lasting 11 times longer than planned. The telescope recorded thousands of these events. It often acted as a first responder, alerting other telescopes to point at specific locations for deeper analysis.
The spacecraft weighed 1.5 tons. It is not yet known how much of the structure survived the atmospheric burn. NASA expects that some dense components may have reached the ground, though the agency has not specified where they landed or if they were recovered.
NASA is now evaluating similar rescue options for the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble, launched in 1990, is also losing altitude due to solar storms. Recent analyses suggest it will reenter by the mid-2030s. The space agency is soliciting proposals from private companies to boost Hubble's orbit, upgrade its systems, or guide it to a controlled landing.
Any intervention for Hubble must occur by 2032. Nicky Fox, NASA’s science mission chief, noted that the agency has more time to plan this mission than it did for Swift. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement that Hubble still has important science ahead of it and that the agency should explore every reasonable opportunity to keep it operational for as long as possible.
