Today (June 28, 2022) the Rocket Lab launched a CubeSat on a historic orbiting mission to the moon to support NASA’s Artemis program. NASA’s CAPSTONE, a CubeSat designed to test a unique lunar orbit, is safely in space and on the first leg of its journey to the Moon. The spacecraft is on its way to a future orbit for the Gateway, a lunar space station built by NASA and its commercial and international partners to support NASA’s Artemis program, including astronaut missions to the Moon. The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, was launched at 5:55 a.m. EDT (2:55 AM PDT / 09:55 UTC) to Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula Tuesday. An image of the Cislunar, or CAPSTONE, Operation and Navigation Technology Experiment launched on Rocket Lab’s Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula Tuesday, June 28, 2222: “CAPSTONE is an example of how partnering with business partners is key to NASA’s ambitious plans to explore the Moon and beyond,” said Jim Reuter, co-managing director of the Space Technology Mission. “We are excited about the successful launch of the mission and look forward to what CAPSTONE will do once it reaches the Moon.” CAPSTONE is currently in low orbit on Earth and will take the spacecraft about four months to reach its targeted lunar orbit. The public is invited to watch live the spacecraft’s journey using NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System interactive 3D data display. Starting about a week after launch, you can virtually drive with CubeSat by simulating our solar system. NASA will post updates on when you will see CAPSTONE in visualization on the NASA Ames Research Center homepage as well as on Twitter and Facebook. CAPSTONE is connected to the Rocket Lab’s lunar photon, an interplanetary third stage that will send CAPSTONE on its way into deep space. Shortly after launch, the lunar photon was separated from the second stage of the Electron. Over the next six days, Photon’s engine will periodically ignite to accelerate it beyond Earth’s low orbit, where Photon will release CubeSat into a ballistic lunar orbit to the Moon. CAPSTONE will then use the Sun’s own momentum and gravity to navigate the rest of the way to the Moon. The gravity-driven orbit will dramatically reduce the amount of fuel CubeSat needs to reach the Moon. “The delivery of the spacecraft for launch was an achievement for the entire mission team, including NASA and our industry partners. “Our team is now preparing for the separation and the initial acquisition of the spacecraft in six days,” said Bradley Cheetham, chief researcher at CAPSTONE and chief executive of Advanced Space, which owns and operates CAPSTONE on behalf of NASA. “We have already learned a lot to get to this point and we are passionate about the importance of people returning to the Moon, this time to stay!” On the Moon, CAPSTONE will enter an elongated orbit called an almost straight halo or NRHO orbit. Once on the NRHO, CAPSTONE will fly 1,000 miles from the Moon’s North Pole in its immediate vicinity and 43,500 miles from the South Pole to its farthest. He will repeat the cycle every six and a half days and maintain this trajectory for at least six months to study the dynamics. “CAPSTONE is a track detector in many ways and will demonstrate several technological capabilities during its mission, while navigating an orbit it has never had before orbiting the Moon,” said Elwood Agasid, project manager for CAPSTONE at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California. Valley. “CAPSTONE lays the groundwork for Artemis, Gateway and commercial support for future lunar operations.” During its mission, CAPSTONE will provide operational data on an NRHO and introduce key technologies. The mission’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, developed by Advanced Space with support from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, is a spacecraft-to-space navigation and communication system that will work with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to determine distance between the two spacecraft in orbit. . This technology could allow future spacecraft to determine their position in space without relying solely on Earth observation. CAPSTONE also has a new one-way capability built into its radio, which could reduce the terrestrial network time required for space operations. In addition to New Zealand hosting the CAPSTONE launch, the New Zealand Department of Business, Innovation and Employment and a team led by the University of Canterbury are collaborating with NASA on a spacecraft research mission in spacecraft. New Zealand has helped develop the Artemis Accords – which set out a practical set of principles for guiding space exploration cooperation between nations participating in NASA’s 21st century lunar exploration plans. In May 2021, New Zealand was the 11th country to sign the Artemis Agreements. The CubeSat microwave oven size was designed and built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terran Orbital Corporation. CAPSTONE includes contributions from Stellar Exploration, Inc., Space Dynamics Lab, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. and Orion Space Systems. NASA’s Small Space Craft Technology Program under the agency’s Space Technology Mission (STMD) Fund sponsors the demonstration mission. The program is based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California. The development of CAPSTONE navigation technology is supported by NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR / STTR) program, also under the STMD. The Artemis Campaign Development Division, under the auspices of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission, funds the launch and supports the mission’s operations. The Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida manages the launch service. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory supports downstream communication, monitoring, and telemetry connectivity through NASA’s Deep Space network, Iris radio design, and innovative one-way navigation algorithms.
