WASHINGTON, November 5. /TASS/. NASA’s US Swift space observatory has reentered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up, according to the agency’s website.
"The US Space Force confirmed that the Swift spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 7:39 a.m. EST Wednesday over the North Sumatra region of Indonesia, at approximately 3.4 degrees north latitude and 98.6 degrees east longitude. NASA expected most of the spacecraft to burn up as it traveled through the atmosphere, but some components may have survived re-entry," the statement said.
The spacecraft’s 22-year mission thus came to an end. NASA launched Swift into orbit in 2004. The telescope’s primary mission was to detect so-called gamma-ray bursts - emissions of gamma radiation resulting from major cosmic events, such as supernova explosions. It was later used for other observations, more often as a supporting instrument. In the summer of 2026, a mission involving private company Katalyst Space Technologies was launched to adjust the telescope’s orbit and delay its reentry, but the effort failed.