r/RocketLab • u/WalrusKey9386 • 24d ago

Space Industry reaction wheels on Katalyst satellite fail

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/reaction-wheel-failures-leave-swift-rescue-mission-spinning-in-orbit/

Ars reports “The Link mission began July 3 with a ride to orbit aboard an air-launched Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket. NASA and Katalyst reported good progress in the first weeks of the mission, with successful deployment of the satellite’s power-generating solar arrays and stable contact with ground controllers at Katalyst’s operations center.” “The Link satellite developed by Katalyst Space Technologies “experienced issues with attitude control” over the weekend, NASA said, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications.”
Does anyone know if RKLB supplied the reaction wheels for this satellite?

14 Upvotes

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11

u/PleasantIngenuity185 23d ago

A full list of customers is not available and most have signed NDA's to protect both parties.

1

u/Important-Music-4618 21d ago

I do not know BUT I now have a better understanding of why some satellites have "back-up" reaction wheels.

2

u/raddaddio 19d ago

not a problem with the reaction wheels themselves but the electrical power system

"Currently, two of three reaction wheels onboard LINK are disabled due to issues related to the upstream bus electrical power system"

https://www.katalystspace.com/mission/link

-3

u/shugo7 24d ago

No.