Swift-satellite rescue mission starts on June 30.

Pegasus rocket. Similar to the one NASA uses in the Swift mission. 

NASA pays $ 30 million to Katalyst Corporation to save the Swift telescope. The mission will start on June 30. The air-launched  Northrop Grumman Pegasus  XL rocket will be launched from the Northrop GrummanL-1011 Stargazer jet above the Marshall Islands. The rocket transports the Katalyst capsule to low Earth orbit (LEO). There, the capsule makes contact with the Swift telescope. And pushes it out of the atmosphere. The Katalyst corporation’s operation. It can also be used for testing rendezvous and recognition tools. 

The system. That Katalyst wants to use. It is the NEXUS. The multi-mission robotic tool that can operate in rendezvous and proximity operations. The system can act as a space bus. It transports satellites to a higher trajectory. And maybe somebody is interested in using this kind of robot spacecraft as a space tug. If there is a space tug . At an orbiter. The satellite. It can be launched. By using smaller rockets. And then the tug pulls the satellite into a higher trajectory. 

Artist's view of the NEXUS robot spacecraft that assists another satellite. 

That are urgent for that kind of mission. The data. That is collected. From this mission. It can also be used for similar missions. The purpose is to push abandoned satellites straight to the atmosphere. Or, in other cases, those abandoned satellites, including the reconnaissance satellites. Those abandoned satellites that ended their career could be returned to Earth. By using a “flying garbage can”. There is a possibility that the Chinese or Russians try to collect abandoned reconnaissance or other satellites. Like GPS or communication satellites. 

“Stargazer flight path prior to Pegasus XL deployment. (Image credit: Northrop Grumman) (Space.com)

And take them to their military bases. There, their researchers could investigate those satellites' cameras and radio tools. Those systems. They can make it possible. To jam NATO communication lines. As well as data. That data. Collected from the abandoned GPS satellites can make it possible to jam the GPS system. There is a possibility that one satellite in the wrong hands. It can open a path to jam things like the Starlink system. This threat requires an ability to react fast. In the same way. Western intelligence. It can collect abandoned opponents’ satellites. 

These kinds of systems can search, track, and push satellites. To new trajectories. They can also act as an anti-satellite (ASAT) platform. The ASAT satellite just pushes another satellite into the atmosphere. And in many visions. Those satellites. They just make contact with targeted satellites. And then throw them into the atmosphere. This is one of the things that those satellite-rescue capsules can do. In some models, the killer-satellite. It shoots the gel ammunition at the targeted satellite. That ammunition is so soft. That it leaves the satellite. In one piece. But the system acts like a space tug. And then it can drive the targeted satellite into the wrong trajectory. Or it can drive that satellite into the atmosphere. 

https://www.katalystspace.com

https://www.satnow.com/news/details/5367-katalyst-space-raises-12-million-to-develop-nexus-robotic-spacecraft

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/nasa-to-launch-ambitious-mission-to-save-a-space-telescope-from-burning-up-in-earths-atmosphere

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/satellite-boosting-spacecraft-inside-air-launched-rocket-space-photo-of-the-day-for-june-12-2026

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_Pegasus