The LINK vehicle will decouple from the telescope after the multi-month propulsion campaign and use remaining xenon propellant reserves to lower its perigee for destructive atmospheric reentry.

Zhuque-3’s next flight will include inspection of both stages, hardware replacement if needed, and payload integration within its 5.2-meter diameter fairing.

Efforts for the Long March 10B maiden flight have resumed at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site in Hainan province.

LandSpace is reportedly targeting Zhuque-3 flight opportunities starting after the middle of July.

LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 Y2 reusable launch vehicle completed all key pre-launch ground verification work before its next flight preparations.

The Long March 10B’s reusable first stage is almost identical to the Long March 10A’s first stage except for second-stage interfacing hardware.

Zhuque-3’s upcoming flight will attempt first-stage booster recovery by controlling descent with four grid fins and then firing multiple engines for landing.

The Long March 10B launch vehicle’s transporter-erector underwent final joint systems checks and rehearsal movements at the launch pad.

Linghangzhe has an arm attached to one corner to help stabilize and passivate 5-meter-diameter boosters after recovery and during return trips.

The Long March 10A is expected to start the Mengzhou-1 mission later this year.

LandSpace conducted a static fire of Zhuque-3 on June 29 that lasted over a dozen seconds and produced about 769 tons of thrust from nine TQ-12A engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen.

The autonomous Long March 10 booster-catching ship Linghangzhe entered Sanya’s port to resupply before attempting to recover the Long March 10B first stage.

The Long March 10B is intended to demonstrate recovery of a reusable first stage powered by seven YF-100K engines.

Hazard notices suggest that the Long March 10B could fly no earlier than July 10, with backup dates through July 13.

Commercial Launch Pad 2 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site returned to service after a hydraulic issue halted work in late April.

LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 returned to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center launch pad around June 19 for a second flight and first-stage booster recovery attempt.

LandSpace seeks to reuse a Zhuque-3 first stage by year’s end.

SpaceX has designed some of its satellites to be less reflective.

Reflect Orbital applied to the Federal Communications Commission in 2025 to fly its first prototype satellite, EARENDIL-1, in 2026.

Reflect Orbital plans to use its satellite constellation first for nighttime illumination and later to supply power to ground-based solar panels after its technology is proven.

The modular planar array architecture uses photovoltaic cells and radiofrequency transmitters to send power to Earth.

DarkSky International opposes Reflect Orbital’s satellite constellation and submitted a December 2025 letter to Reflect Orbital against its implementation.

The Planar-array SBSP architecture can reduce night-sky impact because it does not rely on intentional solar reflection and can operate in an orbit up to 100 times higher than the heliostat swarm.

The two leading space-based solar power architectures being developed by companies today are the modular planar array and the monolithic laser swarm.

Reflect Orbital is a California-based company developing orbital mirrors to deliver sunlight to Earth at night.

Reflect Orbital intends to deploy thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit by the end of the decade.

The modular planar array architecture is often placed in geosynchronous Earth orbit.

NASA’s budget is roughly three orders of magnitude lower than global spending on energy generation, transformation, distribution, and consumption each year.

Katalyst planned to repurpose the Link technology demonstration spacecraft to raise Swift’s orbit.

Link’s commissioning process will take about two weeks, followed by two to three weeks to approach Swift.

Link is too small to reboost Hubble, according to Katalyst.

After reboosting Swift, Link will detach and use its remaining xenon propellant to lower its own orbit and speed its reentry.

Katalyst acquired Atomos Space in 2025.

Katalyst said it would be ready to launch around the middle of 2026.

Northrop integrated Link with the Pegasus rocket and the Pegasus with its L-1011 carrier aircraft at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

NASA reoriented Swift to minimize drag, which slowed orbital decay but required shutting down most of its science instruments.

Link will begin its mission about 13 minutes after launch, when it separates from the Pegasus upper stage.

Katalyst completed Link’s environmental testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in early May.

NASA spent $98.8 million on Hubble in fiscal year 2025.

NASA awarded Katalyst Space a $30 million contract through the Small Business Innovation Research program to develop the Swift reboost mission.

Northrop Grumman has only one Pegasus mission on contract today.

Katalyst also selected Pegasus XL because it was far cheaper than buying a dedicated Falcon 9 launch.

Katalyst selected Pegasus XL because it could reach Swift’s orbit and offered the reliability and schedule capability needed for the time-sensitive launch.

Katalyst Space Technologies developed Link, a 425-kilogram spacecraft designed to attach to a NASA spacecraft in decaying orbit and raise it to a higher altitude.

Link has three robotic arms, and the reboost can work even if only one arm attaches to Swift.

The last operational L-1011 aircraft will launch a Pegasus XL rocket from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

If Link grapples Swift, it will use Hall Effect thrusters to raise Swift’s orbit over the next three months to 550 to 600 kilometers.

Swift’s low Earth orbit has been decaying because of atmospheric drag enhanced by peak solar activity.

NASA spent more than $1 billion on the cancelled OSAM-1 satellite servicing demo mission.

NASA required the Swift reboost mission to launch before Swift’s orbit decayed to about 300 kilometers.