CAPSTONE Team Continues Work Towards Spacecraft Recovery

The CAPSTONE mission team is continuing to work towards recovery of the spacecraft orientation control. This work includes collecting information from the spacecraft, running simulations, and refining recovery plans. CAPSTONE is power positive – meaning it is generating more power from its solar panels than the spacecraft systems are using – and remains in a stable condition on track to the Moon.

CAPSTONE Launch Day Weather Forecast: 75% Favorable

The weather forecast for Tuesday, June 28, is 75% favorable for launch of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 5:55 a.m. EDT (09:55 UTC) with liftoff from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. 

A graphic featuring the CAPSTONE mission patch, along with text: Launch Weather Update. Weather Conditions: Mainly fine weather expected for T-0. Thick mid-high cloud is expected to reduce as the count progresses. Winds N-NE gusting 4-6 meters per second (m/s), possibly increasing to 12-14 m/s close to T-0. Weather = 75% go for launch.
Click to expand. Credit: Rocket Lab

 

CAPSTONE Spacecraft Arrives at Launch Site in New Zealand

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, spacecraft safely arrived at the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand ahead of its launch. The launch window opens May 31 and extends through June 22. Rocket Lab completed the launch rehearsal, and with the spacecraft now at the launch site, will begin payload integration with the Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft bus.

Electron launch vehicle on the pad at Launch Complex 1 for wet dress rehearsal
Electron launch vehicle on the pad at Launch Complex 1 for wet dress rehearsal ahead of the CAPSTONE launch for NASA and Advanced Space. Image credit: Rocket Lab.

CAPSTONE Spacecraft Launch Targeted No Earlier Than May 31

NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are currently targeting no earlier than May 31, 2022, for the launch of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission. We will continually evaluate the date for the first target launch attempt within the launch period, which extends to June 22.

CAPSTONE Spacecraft Ships to Launch Site

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, spacecraft which will chart a new path for NASA’s Moon-orbiting space station Gateway, just started its journey. On May 9, it shipped from Terran Orbital Corporation in Irvine, California, to its launch site at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand.

CAPSTONE is expected to arrive at the Mahia Launch Complex in the next few days in preparation for a launch no earlier than May 2022. It will launch on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket using a Lunar Photon satellite upper stage to send the spacecraft into a never-been-tested near rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon.