Terran Orbital Developed CAPSTONE Heads to the Moon
The Terran Orbital designed and built Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, otherwise known as CAPSTONE, launched this morning at 9:55 UTC / 5:55 a.m. EDT / 2:55 a.m. PDT aboard Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft bus on an Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand.
Microwave-size spacecraft launches to test new orbit between Earth and the moon
The mission, called the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, and known as CAPSTONE, lifted off the launchpad Tuesday at 5:55 a.m. ET. The CubeSat launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
NASA begins return to the moon with low-cost CAPSTONE mission, launched by Rocket Lab
CAPSTONE, an acronym for “Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment,” is a low-cost mission that represents the first launch under NASA’s lunar Artemis program.