Spacecraft returns to Earth after rescue mission for ageing Nasa telescope fails

The Guardian UK Friday 25 September 2026, 16:38 UTC By Richard Luscombe 1 min read

Key Points

Series of in-flight problems meant Link, a ‘commercial space robot’, could not salvage the Nasa observatoryA spacecraft that was launched in July on a mission to rescue a decaying Nasa space observatory plunged back to Earth on Friday, concluding a failed mission that will be followed by the telescope’s own demise in several weeks’ time. Link, billed as “America’s first commercial space robot”, lifted off on 3 July from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific islands with the objective of...

Series of in-flight problems meant Link, a ‘commercial space robot’, could not salvage the Nasa observatory

A spacecraft that was launched in July on a mission to rescue a decaying Nasa space observatory plunged back to Earth on Friday, concluding a failed mission that will be followed by the telescope’s own demise in several weeks’ time.

Link, billed as “America’s first commercial space robot”, lifted off on 3 July from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific islands with the objective of lifting the orbit and prolonging the life of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a satellite that has studied gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic events for the last 22 years.

Earth (LOCATION) Nasa (ORG) Series (EVENT) America (LOCATION) Kwajalein Atoll (LOCATION) South Pacific (LOCATION)

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Spacecraft returns to Earth after rescue mission for ageing Nasa telescope fails

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