Rocket Lab Launched NASA's Capstone Mission to the Moon

On June 28, American company Rocket Lab successfully launched the Electron rocket carrying NASA's CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) lunar CubeSat into Moon orbit.

CAPSTONE is a microwave oven-sized, 25-kilogram satellite that has embarked on a history-making journey to the Moon, where it will explore and test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit.

The purpose of the mission is to study the Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) – a halo-shaped orbit of the Moon, which, according to scientists, should become a staging area for further lunar missions. NASA plans to use this orbit for the Gateway near-lunar orbital station, an outpost that is part of NASA's Artemis program. During the mission, CAPSTONE will test the long-term stability of this orbit.

It is expected that CAPSTONE will reach its destination by entering the lunar orbit in four months and stay there for at least six months.