India, July 3 -- NASA has launched the Swift Boost mission to rescue the aging Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope that is gradually losing altitude and risks falling back to Earth. The mission uses a robotic spacecraft named LINK, developed by Katalyst Space Technologies, to capture the telescope and push it into a higher orbit, extending its operational life by several years.

The Swift Observatory, launched in 2004, has played a crucial role in studying gamma-ray bursts, black holes, supernovae, and other powerful cosmic events. Increased solar activity has expanded Earth's upper atmosphere, creating more drag and causing the telescope's orbit to decay faster than expected.

Since Swift has no onboard propulsion system, N...