Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, serving primarily the United States and its allied aerospace and defense industries, today announced the successful launch of the CAPSTONE satellite. Terran Orbital designed and built the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, otherwise known as CAPSTONE, launched this morning at 9:55 UTC / 5:55 p.m. EDT / 2:55 a.m. PDT on Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft in an Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. CAPSTONE is owned and operated by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA.
This press release has multimedia. See the full version here: The second stage of Rocket Lab Electron pushes Photon & CAPSTONE to its first parking track (Credit: Rocket Lab) CAPSTONE is a lunar orbiter that reduces the risk to the future spaceship by verifying the dynamics of the orbit designed for NASA & CloseCurlyQuote Gateway. As a tracker, CAPSTONE is the first satellite to demonstrate the functions of an almost straight halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. Until now, this demonstration would have been impossible for a 12U form factor like CAPSTONE – but a radio tower antenna combined with a low-energy “ballistic lunar transport” extends the satellite’s capabilities and range. The mission also builds infrastructure that reduces reliance on communications from fixed monitoring elements on Earth to support navigation and operation – technology that will be critical as space becomes more congested. “Terran Orbital would like to thank Rocket Lab for the perfect launch,” said Marc Bell, co-founder, president and CEO of Terran Orbital. “We would also like to thank NASA and Advanced Space for giving us the opportunity to be part of this mission. The path that CAPSTONE opens to the moon will be used by countless future generations. Terran Orbital is proud to have designed, built and integrated the spacecraft for this historic tracking mission and we look forward to doing business throughout CAPSTONE & CloseCurlyQuote. ” The Terran Orbital Mission Operations Team is currently preparing for the development and initial acquisition of the CAPSTONE spacecraft. In the final days between launch and development on the lunar intake orbit, Terran Orbital Mission Operators will complete the final rehearsals, practice commissioning scenarios, and refine fault detection and response scenarios. Click here to watch a rerun of the release. About Terran Orbital Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of small satellites serving primarily the United States and its allied aerospace and defense industries. Terran Orbital provides integrated satellite solutions combining design, production, launch programming, mission operations and orbital support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civilian and commercial customers. Learn more at www.terranorbital.com. See the original version at businesswire.com:
