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NASA Might Be Able to Reboost the Hubble Space Telescope After All... | 10:37> Ellie in Space | 222K subscribers | 34,141 views | March 25, 2026 [link to the report from Ars Technica]

"It's the only launch vehicle that can meet the orbit, the schedule and the cost to achieve something unprecedented with emerging technology."A history-making robotic rescue mission scheduled to launch next year will fly on a rocket dropped from a plane.In September, NASA announced that it has chosen Arizona company Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the altitude of its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope whose orbit has gotten dangerously low since its November 2004 launch...The $500 million Swift observatory was built by Orbital Sciences, a company that in 2014 became Orbital ATK, which was then acquired by Northrop Grumman...

"A robotic spacecraft built in nine months by Arizona-based startup Katalyst Space Technologies is set to launch no earlier than Tuesday, June 30, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on a first-of-its-kind mission to grab NASA's sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and push it back to a safe orbit — the first time any commercial vehicle has attempted to capture an operational government satellite that was never designed to be serviced. "

In this week's Avid Space industry update, Blue Origin continues the cleanup effort at LC-36, NASA's Office of the Inspector General releases a scathing report on NASA's handling of the Starliner contract with Boeing, and Northrop Grumman's last Pegasus XL rocket is launched to on a mission to rescue the Swift Space Observatory. Starliner Delays Costly - NASA Watchdog Demands Accountability Weekly Spaceflight News | 9:04 Avid Space | 29,051 views | July 8, 2026

Last year NASA bought the space mission equivalent of a lottery ticket, a small bet on a mission which has the odds stacked against it, but could be a win on many levels. This is the last TriStar, launching the last Pegasus, carrying a never before flown spacecraft that offers the Swift telescope's last chance to avoid destruction. NASA offered a small contract to attempt a mission to re-boost an old telescope which would otherwise burn up, $30million seemed too small, but Katalyst stepped up with work they'd already been doing on satellite servicing, and in the process they got...

The space vehicle launch company owned by the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has confirmed that it's still operational, following a report that it was closing shop. Earlier Friday, Reuters said four sources told it that Stratolaunch Systems Corporation would be closing down. Stratolaunch has been developing a series of space launch vehicles including a super-sized aircraft. In August 2018, the company unveiled a lineup of vehicles. The Stratolaunch plane was designed to launch a Pegasus XL rocket, with the company also designing three other launch vehicles including a three-core rocket that would carry 15 times the Pegasus payload,...

MINNEAPOLIS, April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK - News) solid propulsion and composite technologies supported the successful launch yesterday of an Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB - News) air-launched Pegasus XL® rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Pegasus XL carried NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite into space. ATK's Orion solid propulsion motors provided power for all three stages of the air-launch vehicle. The motors, which have flown on all Pegasus rockets since its first mission in 1990, are manufactured in Salt Lake City, Utah. The composite payload fairing, filament-wound solid rocket motor...