RobotRisk Autonomous Systems Incident & Risk Register
RobotRisk / defense space / Katalyst Space Technologies

Katalyst Space Technologies

Products: satellite-servicing. Risk band: Elevated   RobotRisk index 30.5/100 (incidents/exposure, time-weighted) · 100th percentile of 118 defense space companies.

Analyst brief

The record holds a single entry: an attitude-control and reaction-wheel failure on the LINK spacecraft in July 2026, severity 4, resulting in uncontrolled spin. This is a single-event record with no prior history in the data, driven by a spacecraft-subsystem malfunction rather than regulatory or press scrutiny of the company generally. At index 23.1 and the 96.6th percentile of defense-space, the one incident places Katalyst near the top of its category by index despite the limited row count, reflecting the severity weighting of a total loss-of-control event. No trajectory can be established from a single data point; the record shows a discrete hardware/control failure, not a pattern.

Entries by year and severity

122026 S4: 2226
S1S2S3S4S5

By incident type

By severity

RobotRisk index vs defense space alternatives

Comparisons over time

RobotRisk index over time

Yearly entries vs category average

mission-loss over time vs category

malfunction over time vs category

Incident log (2 unique incidents)

SevDateTypeLocationIncidentSource
S408/19
2026
mission-loss Earth orbitNASA and Katalyst end Swift Observatory rescue mission after spacecraft failure · 1 spacecraft (Link) Bloomberg
S407/2026 malfunction Attitude control and reaction wheel failures leave LINK spacecraft spinning uncontrolled, forcing NASA to abandon Swift rescue/reboost · LINK servicing spacecraft (Swift Rescu… Ars Technica

Alternatives in defense space

General Atomics Aeronautical SystemsBaykarJAXAKratos Defense & Security SolutionsTurkish Aerospace IndustriesTekeverSpace Machines CompanyMomentus
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