LINK and Pegasus XL Complete Integration

Katalyst Space’s LINK robotic servicing satellite awaits encapsulation inside a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket on June 8, 2026, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket will carry LINK to space for an attempted orbital boost of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: LINK attached to the front of the Pegasus XL

Image description: Inside a large white high bay, a small silver satellite is attached to the front of a long white rocket. The satellite has two rows of black lenses on the side facing the camera, two solar panels folded top and bottom, and three robotic arms stowed along the sides and face. The rocket’s nose cone is open, with one side missing and the other folded away like a banana peel, revealing a silvery interior. It has a long wing on the top, and the words “Northrop Grumman” are just visible in blue letters on the right side.

Alternative view of LINK and Pegasus XL taken on Monday, June 8, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: LINK attached to the front of the Pegasus XL

Image description: Inside a large white high bay, a small silver satellite is attached to the front of a long white rocket. The satellite has two rows of black lenses in front, two solar panels folded top and bottom, and robotic arms stowed along the front and right side. The rocket’s nose cone is open, with one side missing and the other folded away like a banana peel, revealing a silvery interior. The words “Northrop Grumman” are just visible in blue letters on the right side.

Another view of LINK and Pegasus XL taken on Monday, June 8, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: LINK attached to the front of the Pegasus XL

Image description: Inside a large white high bay, a small silver satellite is attached to the front of a long white rocket. The satellite has two rows of black lenses in front, two solar panels folded top and bottom, and robotic arms stowed along the front and right side. The rocket’s nose cone is open, with one side missing and the other folded away like a banana peel, revealing a silvery interior. The words “Northrop Grumman” are just visible in blue letters on the right side.

Katalyst Space staff examine the LINK spacecraft on Monday, June 8, 2026. From left to right: Program Manager Isabella Katzman, Space Systems Engineer Hunter Robertson, Principal Investigator Kieran Wilson, and Mechanical Engineer Chad Smith.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People look at the LINK satellite

Image description: Four people in blue electrostatic discharge jackets examine LINK, a small silver satellite. The image is framed so they frame the spacecraft, two on each side. LINK has two rows of cameras and a folded robotic arm on its face as well as two solar arrays folded accordion-like top and bottom.

This close-up shows LINK’s cameras and one robotic arm on Monday, June 8, 2026, during payload integration. The top row contains lenses for four cameras, with long-range cameras at far left and right and wide-angle imagers in between. Two additional lenses below them are for infrared cameras. The gold box above the wide-angle lenses houses LINK’s lidar range finder, and the square to the left of it is a 360-degree camera.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: The face of the LINK spacecraft

Image description: A robotic arm is folded against the face of a small silver satellite. The face has two rows of white-rimmed black circles, four on the top and two on the bottom. It also sports some other small boxes and circles, as well as many wires. A solar panel is folded against the top side of the spacecraft.

Scott Wells, the Pegasus XL operations manager for Northrop Grumman, works on the connections between LINK and the rocket on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: A man works on the Pegasus XL

Image description: A man is mostly hidden behind the cylindrical body of a rocket. Lines and coils of wire rest on the top of the cylinder, and he uses two hands to adjust the placement of one. He’s wearing a blue electrostatic discharge jacket.

The hands of Northrop Grumman’s Mark McManus, a Pegasus XL operations manager, work on the rocket as seen through an open panel on the fairing on Tuesday, June 9, 2026,

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: Hands work on the Pegasus XL

Image description: A pair of hands is visible through a hatch in the side of a curved white panel. The right hand holds a flashlight, and the left is poised to make an adjustment. Black letters below the hatch spell out “Katalyst” and “Leonid.”

Wilson stands on a step ladder and Robertson kneels to observe at the Northrop Grumman team closes the left half of the rocket fairing around LINK on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. The blue glove on the front of the fairing is a visual indicator for a long screw that will eventually be used to secure the two halves.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People work on the Pegasus XL fairing

Image description: A man in a blue electrostatic discharge jacket stands on a step ladder that is out of view and looks at a small silver satellite. The satellite is attached to a rocket. In the background, other blue-jacketed people close the left side of the rocket’s fairing to encapsulate the satellite. They are working inside a large white high bay.

The Northrop Grumman team adjusts the placement of the left half of the fairing on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, while Robertson monitors LINK from the nose cone.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: In a large high bay, three men in blue electrostatic discharge jackets adjust the placement of a long white rocket fairing with several logos painted along the side. A fourth similarly dressed man observes from a ladder on the opposite side. A fifth man peers down an opening at the front of the fairing. A large yellow crane stands to the rocket’s left side.

The left half of the fairing encloses LINK as seen on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: Inside a large high bay, a small silver satellite rests half enclosed in a rocket fairing. A robotic arm is folded against its face, which sports two rows of cameras. Two solar arrays are accordion-like folded top and bottom. A man in a blue electrostatic discharge jacket sits on the floor beneath the rocket. Wires are attached to the side of the spacecraft and drop out of frame.

Bryan Baldwin, Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL program manager, and Karl Scherm, a Pegasus XL mechanical engineer, move the right side of the rocket’s payload fairing on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People move half of the Pegasus XL fairing

Image description: Two men in blue electrostatic discharge jackets move half of a large white cylinder on a stand with wheels inside a large high bay. The cylinder half has two logos on the side. The one on the left is cut off by the stand, but the red letters “sus” are visible. The logo on the right spells out “Katalyst” and “Leonid” in black letters.

Northrop Grumman personnel begin closing the right half of the Pegasus XL fairing on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. From left to right: McManus, Scherm, and Bradley Leonetti, a quality inspector.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People work on the Pegasus XL rocket fairing

Image description: In a large high bay, people in blue electrostatic discharge jackets close the right half of a rocket fairing around a small silver satellite. One man in a brown baseball cap holds the nosecone. Another man sits on the ground underneath the rocket. A third kneels in front of it. The satellite has robotic arms folded against its face and side, which sports two rows of cameras. Two solar arrays are accordion-like folded top and bottom.

Leonetti, McManus, and Wells close the Pegasus XL fairing around LINK on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People work on the Pegasus XL rocket

Image description: Three men in blue electrostatic discharge jackets work on the white fairing of a rocket in a high bay. One man is far back along the fuselage, one leans on the nose cone on the left side, and one stands in front of the nosecone. Inside the fairing is a small spacecraft almost entirely enclosed except the solar array folded accordion-like against the top side.

Northrop Grumman personnel use a lift to help close the Pegasus XL fairing on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. From left to right: quality assurance engineer Frank Lopez, McManus, Scherm, Leonetti. Timothy Fackler, a propulsion engineer, observes.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People work on the Pegasus XL rocket

Image description: A man in a blue electrostatic discharge jacket stands on an aluminum step ladder and peers into an opening in a rocket fairing inside a large high bay. Four men in matching jackets stand around the rocket. One holds the handle of a red lift that bolsters the underside of the rocket.

McManus, Leonetti, and Scherm work on the Pegasus XL fairing while Robertson works on attachments to the LINK spacecraft inside it on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: People work on the Pegasus XL rocket

Image description: Four men in blue electrostatic discharge jackets work on and around a long white rocket in a high bay. A yellow crane stands to the right of the rocket, which has a wing near the tail. In the background, people work on a trailer behind the rocket.

The fully integrated LINK and Pegasus XL await rollout for mating with Northrop Grumman’s Stargazer, a modified L-1011 aircraft, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

Alt text: The Pegasus XL rocket in a high bay

Image description: A long white rocket rests on a platform in a high bay. A long white trailer stretches out behind it. The rocket has a crossbody wing near the tail and several logos painted along the side. The nose cone has the name “Adam” painted in black letters.