Aircraft Carrying Swift Boost Satellite Takes Off From NASA Wallops

An airplane carrying a rocket loaded with a robotic spacecraft designed to raise NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory departed the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Thursday, June 18. Stargazer, a modified L-1011 operated by Northrop Grumman, took off for Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Attached to the belly of the aircraft was a Pegasus XL rocket carrying LINK. NASA contracted Katalyst Space to design and build LINK to rendezvous with and dock to Swift, then lift the observatory back to a higher altitude. Spacecraft in low Earth orbit experience drag from the atmosphere that gradually reduces their altitude if they lack propulsion.

Recent solar activity magnified this effect on Swift, causing it to sink faster than anticipated, and Katalyst selected the Pegasus XL as the best way to reach Swift on a short timeline based on orbital and programmatic needs. Later this month, Stargazer will carry the rocket to an altitude of around 40,000 feet before releasing it.

Republic of the Marshall Islands, Virginia

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