NASA's Swift space telescope plunges to Earth after 22 years in orbit

NASA's Swift Observatory, a space telescope launched in 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts and supernovas, reentered Earth's atmosphere on November 4 near North Sumatra, Indonesia, according to CBS News and PBS NewsHour.

The telescope, initially designed for a two-year mission, operated for 22 years and observed thousands of cosmic explosions, serving as a first responder for other space telescopes, NASA said as reported by CBS News.

Intense solar activity over recent years gradually lowered Swift's orbit, leading to its uncontrolled reentry. NASA and the U.S. Space Force tracked the observatory's descent, with much of it burning up in the atmosphere, though denser components may have survived, according to CBS News and PBS NewsHour.

Earlier in 2026, NASA contracted a private company, Katalyst Space, to attempt an orbit-boosting rescue mission using a robotic craft, but the effort failed when the robot could not approach the telescope and subsequently crashed to Earth, as reported by PBS NewsHour and CBS News.

NASA is now considering similar rescue options for the Hubble Space Telescope, which is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere by the mid-2030s. The agency is seeking input from private companies on possible orbit boosts or controlled reentry missions, PBS NewsHour reported.