Space startup Katalyst launches orbital rescue mission for aging NASA observatory

NASA and startup Katalyst launched the robotic spacecraft LINK to rendezvous with and physically grab the aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, towing it to a higher orbit to extend its mission.
The half-ton rescue vehicle was designed, built and tested in just nine months under a $30 million NASA contract — a fast, low-cost way to save a roughly $500 million science asset.
The mission is a first-of-its-kind U.S. demonstration of orbital “grappling” tech, watched closely amid U.S.–China competition over close-proximity space maneuvers with possible military uses.