Washington, June 28 (QNA) - The US space agency NASA said Sunday it is preparing an emergency mission to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from imminent orbital decay and potential re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

According to the agency, the move comes after heightened solar activity expanded Earth's upper atmosphere, increasing atmospheric drag and causing the telescope's orbit to drop sharply from 373 miles to below 250 miles, raising concerns about the long-term viability of one of NASA's key scientific observatories.

To carry out the USD 30 million operation, NASA has partnered with startup Catalyst Space Technologies to develop a robotic servicing spacecraft equipped with three robotic arms.

The vehicle is designed to rendezvous with the observatory, capture it, and boost it back into a higher, more stable orbit, extending its ability to observe high-energy cosmic events for additional years.

NASA said the spacecraft could be launched as early as this week aboard a Pegasus XL air-launched rocket deployed from an aircraft over a coral island in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has been operating since 2004. The agency said the current peak in the solar cycle has accelerated its gradual orbital decay, making an orbit-boosting maneuver necessary to maintain its long-term scientific mission. (QNA)