CAPSTONE Lunar Cubesat Mission Is Ready for Launch

The CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) lunar cubesat is fully ready for its May 2022 launch.

The statement was made by representatives of Advanced Space, which manufactured the orbiter, at the opening ceremony of the control center in Westminster (Colorado).

Despite its relatively modest size, the launch of CAPSTONE will be a significant milestone. First, it is the first mission undertaken as part of the Gateway near-lunar orbital station program. CAPSTONE will have to test the orbit where the new space outpost of humankind is planned to be placed. Another task of the mission is to test an autonomous navigation system.

Second, CAPSTONE will be the first spacecraft sent to interplanetary space by a small Electron rocket. Previously, Rocket Lab only launched payloads into low-Earth orbits. The success of the launch demonstrates the company's readiness to carry out missions to study Venus and Mars in the coming years.

Engineers say that if the launch is successful, the vehicle will reach a working orbit in September 2022.