WASHINGTON :NASA has tapped startup Katalyst to save a $500 million orbiting observatory from falling into Earth’s atmosphere by launching a spacecraft meant to push it farther into space, NASA and Katalyst said.
The U.S. space agency awarded the Arizona-based Katalyst Space Technologies $30 million to send a modified version of its “Link” spacecraft to NASA’s orbiting Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a spacecraft in low-Earth orbit that has been observing distant galaxies and black holes since its launch in 2004.
