After repeated delays, a microwave-sized CubeSat known as CAPSTONE can finally begin its long journey to the moon. With this launch, NASA aims to begin the first chapter of its ambitious Artemis program and lay the foundations for what will be the first in human history: a platform with a crew in orbit around the moon.
Before the manned platform, which the agency calls the Gateway, could launch, NASA first tested a unique, highly elliptical orbit around the moon. Here comes the CAPSTONE or Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. CubeSat will travel in this exact orbit (called an almost rectilinear halo orbit) for six months, collecting important data for NASA scientists.
To get there, CAPSTONE will launch the Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s website on the remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. This is the highest mass and highest performance that Electron has ever had to fly with much difference, “Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told TechCrunch earlier this week.
Rocket Lab has developed a variant of its Photon spacecraft called the Lunar Photon specifically for this mission. This spacecraft will conduct a series of maneuvers to get CubeSat on the right trajectory to the moon.
CAPSTONE is also the result of significant contributions from other players in the industry. In particular, Advanced Space has developed, owned and operated CAPS; Tyvak International built the CubeSat platform; Stellar Exploration provided the propulsion system of the spacecraft; and Tethers Unlimited provided the radio communications system.
The space agency was initially targeted for Monday’s launch, but had to postpone it for a day to “allow the Rocket Lab to conduct final inspections of the systems,” NASA said in a blog post. If the mission is postponed again, there’s no reason to worry: Rocket Lab has launch capabilities every day until July 27, and CAPSTONE’s trajectory design means it will arrive on the moon by November 13, no matter when it’s in the launch window. deviates from the Earth.
NASA’s YouTube channel shows a live webcast starting at 5:00 AM EST, with a launch targeting 5:55 AM EST.
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