NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory ends operations after more than two decades

26 October 2026

NASA has ended science operations of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which launched on 20 November 2004 to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions known in the universe. Swift carried co-aligned X-ray and ultraviolet or optical telescopes that could swing quickly to pinpoint a burst's position, and it observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts. It also studied supernovae, stars torn apart by black holes, active galaxies, asteroids and comets, and carried out an all-sky X-ray survey. The spacecraft was renamed in 2018 for Neil Gehrels, its first principal investigator. Its orbit has now fallen below 275 kilometres, where atmospheric drag prevents steady pointing, and the final observation was made on 20 October. Re-entry is expected within weeks. Swift is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where S. Bradley Cenko is principal investigator.