NASA's aging Swift Observatory, a truck-sized space telescope launched nearly 22 years ago, is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday after rescue attempts failed, with NASA saying the risk of harm from surviving components is low (about 1 in 2,100).
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Almost 22 years after it was launched, NASA's Swift Observatory is now about to fall back to Earth on Wednesday after attempts to push it back into a higher orbit failed. <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/11/02/nasas-swift-observatory-to-re-enter-atmosphere/">NASA announced</a> that the aging space telescope is anticipated to re-enter Earth's atmosphere at approximately 3:30AM ET (give or take 11 hours), and that it expects most of the spacecraft to burn up, but some components will likely survive re-entry.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The observatory weighs around 3,200 pounds and measures in at 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) high and 5.4 meters (17.7 feet) wide, though much of the latter includes its deployable solar arrays. The risk of surviving components causing …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/science/1025227/nasa-swift-observatory-falling-to-earth">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# A truck-sized NASA space telescope is about to crash to Earth
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/science/1025227/nasa-swift-observatory-falling-to-earth](https://www.theverge.com/science/1025227/nasa-swift-observatory-falling-to-earth)
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The Swift Observatory is expected to re\-enter Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, and is ‘unlikely’ to cause harm\.
The Swift Observatory is expected to re\-enter Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday, and is ‘unlikely’ to cause harm\.
by
Nov 3, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
Image: NASA
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Jess Weatherbed
is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture\. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews\.
Almost 22 years after it was launched, NASA’s Swift Observatory is now about to fall back to Earth on Wednesday after attempts to push it back into a higher orbit failed\.[NASA announced](https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/11/02/nasas-swift-observatory-to-re-enter-atmosphere/)that the aging space telescope is anticipated to re\-enter Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 3:30AM ET \(give or take 11 hours\), and that it expects most of the spacecraft to burn up, but some components will likely survive re\-entry\.
The observatory weighs around 3,200 pounds and measures in at 5\.6 meters \(18\.4 feet\) high and 5\.4 meters \(17\.7 feet\) wide, though much of the latter includes its deployable solar arrays\. The risk of surviving components causing any harm is low, according to NASA:
> “Re\-entry locations of any surviving components can vary from hemisphere to hemisphere and depend on when it re\-enters\. Due to Swift’s low inclination, re\-entry locations of surviving fragments are limited between 20\.6 degrees south latitude and 20\.6 degrees north latitude\. The risk of harm coming to anyone on Earth is unlikely — approximately 1 in 2,100\. NASA and Space Force will continue to monitor the re\-entry and update predictions\.”
The agency gave up on trying to save the falling telescope[earlier this year](https://www.theverge.com/science/982661/nasa-katalyst-swift-rescue-mission-failure-update), after the[Link spacecraft](https://www.theverge.com/science/961459/nasa-emergency-save-swift-observatory-katalyst-space-technologies)that was attempting the rescue experienced technical issues with attitude control\. Still, Swift far outlived its original two\-year prime mission to study the origin of gamma\-ray bursts, and went on to serve as a general\-purpose multi\-wavelength observatory until solar storms pushed it into a lower orbit\. You can follow Swift’s descent by monitoring NASA’s blog for continued updates\.
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NASA's Swift Observatory, a 3,200-pound satellite, is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere later this week, with a wide impact zone spanning parts of Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, and South America.
NASA and Katalyst Space have abandoned the rescue mission for the Swift Observatory due to attitude control issues, leading to the satellite's expected re-entry into Earth's atmosphere later this year.
NASA has launched an emergency mission with Katalyst Space Technologies to raise the orbit of the Swift Observatory, which is in danger of burning up in Earth's atmosphere due to recent solar storms.
NASA's rescue mission to save the Swift Observatory satellite failed, and the satellite is expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere by the end of the year, but it will continue to capture astronomical data until then.
NASA has cancelled its rescue mission for the aging Swift telescope due to spacecraft control system failures, but will use the attempt to gather data for future satellite servicing missions.