Terran Orbital’s MRKII avionics provided a compact, low-power, and robust system design that enabled creation of a 12U interplanetary CAPSTONE platform.
CAPSTONE became the first satellite to enter a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit around the Moon with a successful insertion maneuver performed on 2022-11-13.
LunIR is the second Terran Orbital-developed lunar satellite to launch 2022, following CAPSTONE.
CAPSTONE, launched on 2022-06-28, was the first Terran Orbital-developed lunar satellite to launch in 2022 and completed a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit insertion maneuver on 2022-11-13.
The CAPSTONE spacecraft completed a 16-minute maneuver at 7:39 p.m. Eastern on 2022-11-13 to enter a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon.
Initial data confirming CAPSTONE's insertion into NRHO were received at 6:00 p.m. MT.
CAPSTONE was designed, built, and integrated by Terran Orbital and led by Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado.
CAPSTONE’s total cost to NASA is about $30,000,000 and the mission has a six-month primary phase with potential to operate for an additional 12 or more months.
LunIR is a Terran Orbital-developed Artemis-supporting satellite planned to launch after CAPSTONE.
CAPSTONE launched on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on 2022-06-28 and was deployed from Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon kick stage onto a low-energy ballistic lunar trajectory on 2022-07-04.
Advanced Space developed the CAPS software for CAPSTONE to demonstrate inter-satellite ranging with the goal of reducing ground station congestion.
CAPSTONE launched on Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft bus aboard an Electron launch vehicle on 2022-06-28.
Advanced Space is based in Westminster, Colorado and operates the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) experiment launched in June as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
Rocket Lab successfully launched the CAPSTONE spacecraft, a NASA pathfinder satellite designed to test the same orbit intended for Gateway.
Rocket Lab launched the CAPSTONE spacecraft, a NASA pathfinder satellite designed to test the same orbit intended for Gateway.
CAPSTONE was launched in 2022-06-01 and was deployed from Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon kick stage on 2022-07-04.
Rocket Lab launched CAPSTONE in June 2022 on its Electron rocket and injected the spacecraft into a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory using a Lunar Photon kick stage.
A lunar-capable version of Photon was used by Rocket Lab to complete the CAPSTONE Moon mission for NASA in 2022 by sending a CubeSat on a ballistic lunar transfer.
CAPSTONE uses a monopropellant hydrazine-fueled propulsion system developed and implemented by Stellar Exploration Inc.
Orion Space Solutions (formerly Astra) provided the Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) hardware necessary for CAPSTONE’s 1-way ranging experiment.