Link is the second space mission developed by Katalyst following a technology demonstration launched in 2024 by Atomos Space, a company Katalyst acquired last year.
“When we started the program, I think everyone understood that the biggest risk was that we wouldn’t be ready to launch in time, and that SWIFT would fall faster than we could get up,” Wilson said. “We’ve been able to stem that risk over the past few months by building the spacecraft, testing it, and getting it ready to operate.” “So I think the bulk of the overall interest has been taken away. Now, there’s a lot of risk remaining in the program. We still have to put the spacecraft into orbit and get the spacecraft up there successfully, and as we’ve all seen before, that’s very difficult.”
The Link spacecraft is integrated with Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket.
Image credit: NASA/Ron Byrd
The Link spacecraft is integrated with Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket.
Image credit: NASA/Ron Byrd
It also helps that Northrop Grumman has all the parts for the Pegasus XL rocket in stock. The last two Pegasus rockets were originally ordered by Stratolaunch, a company originally owned by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Stratolaunch abandoned the rockets after Allen’s death in 2018, and Northrop was free to sell them to other customers. It sold one to Space Force in 2021, and another to Katalyst last year.
Whatever happens after Link’s launch, NASA and its partners believe they have written a new model for how to conduct a responsive space mission.
“Some might call it the first of its kind, a robotic spacecraft that can go and pick up an unprepared satellite,” said Robert LaMontagne, vice president of strategic partnerships at Catalyst. “It’s a business mission, first and foremost. It achieves an operational and realistic goal. It’s not just a demo, we’re doing this as a service… It’s actually an outline of commercial and government partnerships.”
“From a software standpoint, I already consider this a success, just from the fact that we’re going to try it,” Domagal Goldman said.
