Spaceflight Daily Report, Tuesday 28th July 2026

Image credit: Katalyst Space

LINK Loss of Attitude Control

The LINK spacecraft, launched a few weeks ago, has lost attitude control following malfunctions in its reaction wheels and thrusters. LINK is serving the Swift Boost mission, a low budget attempt to reboost NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Engineers at NASA and Katalyst Space are working to determine if the mission can still be completed once they have the spacecraft back under control. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

The crew of the International Space Station prepared for three spacewalks scheduled for August, as well as carrying out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

RFA Encounter Issue with Rocket

Germany company Rocket Factory Augsberg encountered an unspecified issue with their RFA One rocket during testing. The rocket, which is currently stacked on the pad at SaxaVord in the Shetland Islands, will now be de-stacked. The first attempt to launch RFA One, back in 2024, ended with the first stage destroyed by fire during a static fire test, so they will be aiming to avoid that this time around even if it means further delays. They are in a race with Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket to launch the first private European orbital vehicle, and whichever wins that race will also mark the first non-Russian orbital launch from geographic Europe. [Source: Rocket Factory Augsberg]

ESA Looking to Repurpose Lunar Link

The European Space Agency have opened a call for proposals to repurpose Lunar Link, a communications module that the agency was developing for NASA's now-cancelled Lunar Gateway space station around the Moon. As the technology has already been developed, ESA is interested in turning the module into a standalone communications satellite for helping ground stations to communicate with other Moon missions. [Source: ESA]