A bold satellite rescue mission came together in record time, but will it work?

NASA awarded startup Katalyst Space Technologies a $30 million contract to build a rescue satellite for the Swift observatory, a $500 million gamma-ray burst detector slowly falling out of orbit due to increased atmospheric drag from solar activity. Working in under a year — a process that normally takes several years — Katalyst built the "Link" spacecraft, equipped with robotic arms to grab Swift and boost it to a safe altitude. Launch aboard a Pegasus XL rocket is scheduled for June 27.