A bold satellite rescue mission came together in record time, but will it work?
摘要
美国宇航局仅用10个月时间，委托初创公司Katalyst Space Technologies执行一项前所未有的卫星救援任务：建造并发射一颗小型卫星，追踪并捕获价值5亿美元的Swift天文观测卫星，通过三只机械臂将其轨道提升至安全高度。该项目于去年8月启动，9月获得3000万美元合同，目前正面临技术可行性挑战。
WALLOPS ISLAND, Virginia—Just 10 months ago, NASA asked three companies if they could do something nobody had done before. Could they build and launch a satellite to save a $500 million astronomy mission at risk of crashing back to Earth? What's more, could they do it in less than a year on a tight budget?
Katalyst Space Technologies, a startup founded in 2020, presented the most compelling solution. "They came back with a response that was technically and programmatically plausible, and then we were like, 'Yeah, let’s do it,'" said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA's astrophysics division.
That was in August of last year. In September, NASA awarded Katalyst a $30 million contract to build, test, and launch a small satellite to chase down Swift and latch onto it with three robotic arms. Then, Katalyst's Link servicing spacecraft will boost Swift's orbit back to a safe operating altitude, allowing it to resume scientific observations. Easier said than done.
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