Illustration of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). (Credit: Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems)
The CAPSTONE mission will see Rocket Lab extend its reach far beyond Earth orbit for the first time to deploy an in-house designed and built Photon spacecraft to the Moon.
Long Beach, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab has reached a key milestone ahead of the company’s first launch to the Moon, with spacecraft qualification underway for the Photon spacecraft that will transport a NASA satellite into a unique lunar orbit that no other spacecraft has explored before.
NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) will be launched by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle and Photon in Q2 2021. The CAPSTONE satellite will act as a pathfinding precursor for lunar missions, including Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that will provide vital support for a sustainable, long-term human return to the lunar surface under NASA’s Artemis program.