Electron launches CAPSTONE lunar cubesat
Posted: Sat, Jul 2, 2022, 12:42 PM ET (1642 GMT)
A Rocket Lab Electron launched a NASA lunar cubesat mission this morning. The Electron lifted off from the company's New Zealand launch site at 5:55 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit the CAPSTONE cubesat and its Photon kick stage. The Photon will fire its HyperCurie engine several times over the next six days to place CAPSTONE on a trajectory to the moon. CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, will enter the near-rectilinear halo orbit NASA plans to use for Artemis missions in November, testing its stability and as well as autonomous positioning technologies.
A Rocket Lab Electron launched a NASA lunar cubesat mission this morning. The Electron lifted off from the company's New Zealand launch site at 5:55 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit the CAPSTONE cubesat and its Photon kick stage. The Photon will fire its HyperCurie engine several times over the next six days to place CAPSTONE on a trajectory to the moon. CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, will enter the near-rectilinear halo orbit NASA plans to use for Artemis missions in November, testing its stability and as well as autonomous positioning technologies.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, January 16
Sierra Space’s Resilient GPS Satellite Program Reaches Key Milestone
Business Wire — 7:22 am ET (1222 GMT) Slingshot Aerospace Selected to Provide Technology to USSF to Detect GPS Jamming and Spoofing Threats to International Security
Business Wire — 7:22 am ET (1222 GMT) 11 Korean traditional poems headed for moon on U.S. lunar lander
Chosun Ilbo — 7:21 am ET (1221 GMT) Stoke Space Announces $260 Million in New Investment
Business Wire — 7:21 am ET (1221 GMT) A "more powerful" Space Force requires upgraded arsenal, says Kendall
Axios — 7:20 am ET (1220 GMT) |
