in-space servicing

NASA's telescope is falling. A robot just launched to catch it.

A fridge-sized robot with three arms is chasing NASA's 22-year-old Swift telescope — a satellite built with no handle to grab — in the first commercial rescue of a government spacecraft. If it works, "satellites are repairable, not disposable" stops being a slogan.

The Signal — A robot is flying across the Pacific to rescue a NASA telescope

Launch is becoming routine. The new frontier in space is keeping, moving and rescuing what's already up there — plus six more signals.