Pegasus XL Rocket Mated to Stargazer for Swift Boost Mission

A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket attached to the bottom of the company’s Stargazer aircraft, a modified Lockheed L-1011, is ready for departure, as seen on Friday, June 12, 2026, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Inside the rocket is Katalyst Space’s LINK robotic servicing spacecraft, which will launch to boost the orbit of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: A rocket attached to the belly of a large airplane

Image description: A large white airplane has a white rocket attached to its belly. An aircraft boarding truck bearing a flight of stairs is pulled up to the forward boarding door, which is open. There is a band of blue running from the nose to the tail, just above the wings, and blue letters spell out “Northrop Grumman” to the left of the boarding door. A white tractor is hitched to the front of the airplane. The sky above is streaked lightly with white clouds. A person in a black shirt and pants stands under the wing.

This video shows Northrop Grumman engineers attaching the Pegasus XL rocket to the bottom of the Stargazer aircraft.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

0:00 Pan across the rocket parked in front of the airplane.

0:17 Timelapse of the rocket rolling under the airplane.

1:09 Engineers and technicians work on the Pegasus XL trailer and in the space between the rocket and the bottom of Stargazer.

1:42 Timelapse of the trailer lowering from the front.

1:51 The trailer slowly pulls back from beneath the rocket, seen looking down from the nosecone. Northrop Grumman flight technician Timothy Katzbach briefly kneels in front of camera to watch.

4:27 Timelapse of the trailer moving back a little offset from the nosecone.

4:31 Mark McManus, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL operations manager, gestures for the tractor driver to pull the trailer back from beneath the rocket as Frank Lopez, a Northrop Grumman quality assurance engineer and Frederick Forest, chief technology officer for Spach Launch observe.

7:27 Timelapse of Stargazer’s wheels lowering back to the ground.

8:07 Timelapse of wheels lowering from the opposite direction.

8:17 Pan in on a still of a fully mated Pegasus and Stargazer.

Stargazer will carry Pegasus XL and LINK to Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, ahead of launch later this month. The airplane, shown here at NASA Wallops on Friday, June 12, 2026, will release the rocket at about 40,000 feet, and its first-stage motor will ignite. After firing two subsequent stages, the rocket will deliver LINK to orbit.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: An airplane has a rocket attached to its belly and a tractor to its forward landing gear

Image description: A large white airplane has a white rocket attached to its belly and a white tractor attached to its forward landing gear. A flight of stairs mounted to the bed of a truck is pulled up to the open forward boarding door. The camera cuts off the plane near the wing, with the nose pointing to the right. A blue line runs along the fuselage, and blue letters spell out “Northrop Grumman” above the windows to the left of the boarding door. Two hatches are open in the belly, and the rocket has several logos painted on the side.

A Katalyst engineer runs tests on LINK while the satellite is inside the Pegasus XL rocket attached to the Stargazer aircraft on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: An airplane with a rocket attached to the bottom of its fuselage

Image description: A large white airplane has a white rocket attached to the bottom of its fuselage. There is a small white pop-up tent covering a section of the rocket, and a person in a red ball cap and blue electrostatic discharge jacket sits in front of it. The rocket has several logos on the side and an American flag painted near the tail. The airplane has a long blue stripe running down the side, under the windows and above the wing. Blue letters spell out “Northrop Grumman” above the windows to the right of the open forward boarding door. Several support trucks and other vehicles are visible in the background. The sky is partly cloudy.

The logos on the Pegasus XL are more visible in this photo taken from underneath Stargazer’s wing on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: A rocket attached to the belly of an airplane

Image description: A long white rocket is attached to the underside of an airplane. From left to right it is painted with an American flag, “Reagan Test Range,” and logos for NASA, Northrop Grumman, Katalyst, and Pegasus. An orange ladder is set up near the front of the rocket with a large yellow hose attached to the airplane’s fuselage behind it.

Stargazer, Pegasus XL, and LINK await takeoff on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at NASA Wallops. Engineers control the temperature and humidity inside the nose cone of the rocket to keep the satellite and avionics safe from weather and changing environmental conditions during flight.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: An airplane with a rocket attached to its belly

Image description: A large white airplane has a white rocket attached to the bottom of its fuselage. The plane has a blue strip running along the side and the words “Northrop Grumman” in blue letters to the left of the open forward boarding door. A truck with a flight of stairs mounted to the bed is pulled up to the door. A tractor trailer rig is parked behind the plane and has several long white canisters in the back. There is a line of trees in the background, and the sky is dark and grey.