Advanced Space announces the separation of CAPSTONE to begin NASA’s solo mission to the Moon
Press release from: Advanced Space Published: Saturday, July 2, 2022
Advanced Space LLC, the commercial aerospace company that owns and operates the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon in support of NASA, will part with Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon vehicle on Monday, July 4, 2022 to begin its journey through Ballistic Lunar Transfer to reach the Moon in November. CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Equipment, which will be the first spacecraft to demonstrate the unique lunar orbit used by NASA’s Gateway, advanced lunar astronauts will visit before descending to the surface of the Moon as part of the Artemis program.
WHO: Advanced Space, NASA, Terran Orbital and Rocket Lab
WHAT: Separation of Photon’s CAPSTONE spacecraft
WHERE: Space – on the Moon (Iberian Peninsula – near Spain, location relative to Earth)
WHEN: Monday, July 4, 2022 at ~ 1:15 am MT
About CAPSTONE:
CAPSTONE is owned and operated by Advanced Space. It is expected to be the first CubeSat to fly in lunar space (the orbital area near and around the Moon) and demonstrate innovative spacecraft navigation technology. The mission kicked off on Tuesday, June 28th. Critical CAPSTONE mission partners include:
NASA: The development of CAPSTONE is supported by the Directorate of the Space Technology Mission through the Spacecraft Technology Research and Small Business Innovation programs at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The Artemis Campaign Development Division within NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate supports the launch and operations of the mission. NASA’s launch services program at the Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch management. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory supported telemetry communication, tracking, and downlink using NASA’s deep space network, Iris radio design, and innovative one-way navigation algorithms.
Terran Orbital Corporation: designed and built spacecraft.
Stellar Exploration: supplier of propulsion subsystems.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc .: launch provider.
Space Dynamics Lab (SDL): provider of Iris navigation and firmware firmware.
Orion Space Solutions (formerly Astra): Supplier of chip-scale atomic clock hardware (CSAC) for the one-way scope experiment.
Tethers Unlimited, Inc .: Cross Link radio provider.
Morehead State University (MSU): Provides telemetry, monitoring, and control services through NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN).
About the advanced space:
Advanced Space (supports the exploration, development and settlement of space through software and services that take advantage of the unique experience in the field to improve the fundamentals of space flight. Advanced Space is dedicated to improving the development of technology of flight dynamics and accelerated turnkey missions to the Moon, Mars, and more Learn more about what Advanced Space is creating, see the details on the mission page of the technology navigation experiment of the Cislunar autonomous positioning system.
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