CAPSTONE (spacecraft)

CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a planned lunar orbiter that will test and verify the calculated orbital stability planned for the Lunar Gateway space station.

CAPSTONE

Mission type	Technology
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	9 months (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	12U CubeSat
Manufacturer	Advanced Space and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems
Launch mass	25 kg [1]
Start of mission
Launch date	Early 2021 (planned)[1]
Rocket	Electron
Launch site	MARS, Wallops LC-2, Virginia, USA
Contractor	Rocket Lab
Moon orbiter
Orbits	Near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO)[1]

The spacecraft is a small 12-unit CubeSat that will also test a navigation system that will measure its position relative to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) without relying on ground stations.

Overview

The Lunar Gateway is an in-development space station being planned by several national space agencies, including NASA, ESA, CSA and Australian Space Agency. It is planned to be placed in lunar orbit and intended to serve as a solar-powered communications hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots.[2] It would play a major role in NASA's Artemis program.

Computer simulations indicate that this orbit offers long-term stability with low propellant requirements for orbital station-keeping,[3] by using a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon that offers a stable trajectory.[4]

The main objective of the CAPSTONE mission is to verify the calculated orbital stability simulations for the Gateway.[5][4][6] CAPSTONE will be the first spacecraft to operate in that unique lunar orbit.[6][4] The spacecraft will also test a navigation system called Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS),[7] that will measure its position relative to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) without relying on ground stations.[4]

Spacecraft

The orbiter is a 12-unit CubeSat.[6][4][5] The $13.7 million contract was awarded to a private company called Advanced Space, Boulder, Colorado, on 13 September 2019 through a federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract.[6][4] Advanced Space will handle overall project management and some of the spacecraft's key technologies, including its CAPS positioning navigation system,[7] while Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Irvine, California, will develop and build the spacecraft platform, [4] and Stellar Exploration, Inc will develop its propulsion systems.[8]

NASA announced on 14 February 2020, that CAPSTONE will be launched aboard a booster Electron of Rocket Lab and Photon from the company's new launch site, Launch Complex-2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wallops Island, in Virginia, and the launch is scheduled for Q2 2021. Following a three-month trip to the Moon, the CAPSTONE lunar satellite will spend six months collecting data during this demonstration.[1]

Rocket Lab's new launch pad in Virginia, designated Launch Complex 2, was completed in 2019 and will be ready to support launches in 2020. The company said the new facility will primarily support Electron missions with U.S. government payloads. The launch contract with Rocket Lab — U.S.-based company that currently launches from New Zealand — has a value of $9.95 million, according to NASA.[1]

See also

• Artemis program
• List of missions to the Moon

References

1. Clark, Stephen (15 February 2020). "NASA picks Rocket Lab to launch lunar CubeSat mission". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
2. Jackson, Shanessa (11 September 2018). "Competition Seeks University Concepts for Gateway and Deep Space Exploration Capabilities". NASA. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
3. "Angelic halo orbit chosen for humankind's first lunar outpost". ESA. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
4. Foust, Jeff (16 September 2019). "NASA cubesat to test lunar Gateway orbit". SpaceNews. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
5. Torbet, Georgina (15 September 2019). "NASA chooses a CubeSat project to test orbit route around the moon". Digital Trends. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
6. "Advanced Space selected to develop CubeSat pathfinder mission". Aerospace Technology. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
7. "Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS)". Advanced Space. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
8. Hall, Loura (2020-07-31). "What is CAPSTONE?". NASA. Retrieved 2020-08-04.