NASA confirmed that the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory reentered Earth’s atmosphere on November 4, 2026, at 7:39 a.m. EST over North Sumatra, Indonesia. NASA said the U.S. Space Force confirmed the time and location, at approximately 3.4° north latitude and 98.6° east longitude. NASA’s update reports the completed reentry.
Swift’s mission and reentry
Swift was a multiwavelength observatory with three telescopes designed to study gamma-ray bursts and other cosmic events. NASA expected most of the spacecraft to burn up in the atmosphere, while some components may have survived.
Swift’s reentry followed an unsuccessful attempt to raise its orbit with the LINK spacecraft. NeoTeo covered that effort in its earlier report on LINK’s attempted rescue of Swift.
