posted 05-22-2022 01:34 PM               

Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE)

A microwave oven–sized CubeSat weighing just 55 pounds will serve as the first spacecraft to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit as part of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE). As a pathfinder for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA's Artemis program, CAPSTONE will help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this halo-shaped orbit.

Above: Photo of the CAPSTONE spacecraft with solar panels deployed on a workbench at Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., in Irvine, California. (NASA/Dominic Hart)

The orbit, formally known as a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), is significantly elongated. Its location at a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon, offers stability for long-term missions like Gateway and requires minimal energy to maintain. CAPSTONE's orbit also establishes a location that is an ideal staging area for missions to the Moon and beyond. The orbit will bring CAPSTONE within 1,000 miles of one lunar pole on its near pass and 43,500 miles from the other pole at its peak every seven days, requiring less propulsion capability for spacecraft flying to and from the Moon's surface than other circular orbits.

After a three-month journey to its target destination, CAPSTONE will orbit this area around the Moon for at least six months to understand the characteristics of the orbit. Specifically, it will validate the power and propulsion requirements for maintaining its orbit as predicted by NASA's models, reducing logistical uncertainties. It will also demonstrate the reliability of innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation solutions as well as communication capabilities with Earth. The NRHO provides the advantage of an unobstructed view of Earth in addition to coverage of the lunar South Pole.

To test these new navigation capabilities, CAPSTONE has a second dedicated payload flight computer and radio that will perform calculations to determine where the CubeSat is in its orbital path. Circling the Moon since 2009, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will serve as a reference point for CAPSTONE. The intention is for CAPSTONE to communicate directly with LRO and utilize the data obtained from this crosslink to measure how far it is from LRO and how fast the distance between the two changes, which in turn determines CAPSTONE's position in space.

Above: CAPSTONE revealed in lunar sunrise: CAPSTONE will fly in cislunar space – the orbital space near and around the Moon. (NASA/Daniel Rutter)

This peer-to-peer information will be used to evaluate CAPSTONE's autonomous navigation software. If successful, this software, referred to as the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS), will allow future spacecraft to determine their location without having to rely exclusively on tracking from Earth. This capability could enable future technology demonstrations to perform on their own without support from the ground and allow ground-based antennas to prioritize valuable science data over more routine operational tracking.

CAPSTONE is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 2022 aboard a Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. With a highly ambitious schedule, CAPSTONE will demonstrate key commercial capabilities. NASA partners will test cutting-edge tools for mission planning and operations, paving the way and expanding opportunities for small and more affordable space and exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and other destinations throughout the solar system.

Above: CAPSTONE in orbit near the Moon: Once released from Rocket Lab's Photon satellite bus, CAPSTONE will use its propulsion system to travel for approximately three months before entering into orbit around the Moon. (NASA/Daniel Rutter)

Mission objectives:

• Verify the characteristics of a cis-lunar near rectilinear halo orbit for future spacecraft

• Demonstrate entering and maintaining this unique orbit that provides a highly-efficient path to the Moon's surface and back

• Demonstrate spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation services that allow future spacecraft to determine their location relative to the Moon without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth

• Lay a foundation for commercial support of future lunar operations

• Gain experience with small dedicated launches of CubeSats beyond low-Earth orbit, to the Moon, and beyond

Above: CAPSTONE over the lunar North Pole: After arrival at the Moon, CAPSTONE will begin its 6-month-long primary mission. The mission will validate a near rectilinear halo orbit's characteristics by demonstrating how to enter into and operate in the orbit. (NASA/Daniel Rutter)

Partners:

• Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado, is developing and operating CAPSTONE.

• Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terran Orbital Corporation, of Irvine, California, is building the CubeSat platform.

• Stellar Exploration, Inc. of San Luis Obispo, California, is providing CAPSTONE's propulsion system.

• Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, is providing launch services. The launch is managed by NASA's Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology program within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate is managing the CAPSTONE project. The program is based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.

• NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems within the agency's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate is funding the launch and supporting mission operations.

• The development of CAPS is supported by NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

• NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages LRO.

posted 05-22-2022 01:35 PM               

How can a satellite the size of a microwave oven help shape human missions to the Moon and beyond?

CAPSTONE will fly in a unique, halo-shaped orbit around the Moon before the orbit is used by Gateway, NASA's future lunar outpost for our Artemis program. The CAPSTONE mission, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, will validate navigation technologies and orbital dynamics for Gateway, which will one day serve as a staging area for missions to the Moon and potentially as a jumping point for missions to Mars.

The CubeSat will come within 1,000 miles of one lunar pole on its near pass and 43,500 miles from the other pole at its peak every seven days, requiring less propulsion capability for spacecraft flying to and from the Moon’s surface than other circular orbits. It's a six-month mission that will help launch a new era of exploration.

CAPSTONE will lift off aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand. The launch window runs from May 31-June 22, 2022.

posted 06-09-2022 10:13 AM               

CAPSTONE Mission Launch Delayed

NASA, Rocket Lab and Advanced Space are no longer targeting June 13, 2022 for the launch of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission to the Moon. Flight software is being updated. A revised schedule will be provided as soon as possible.

Since arriving in New Zealand, CAPSTONE was successfully fueled and integrated with the Lunar Photon upper stage by teams from Rocket Lab, Terran Orbital, and Stellar Exploration. CAPSTONE and Photon have been encapsulated in the payload fairing.

posted 06-14-2022 02:47 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission Launch Retargeted

NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are currently targeting no earlier than June 25, 2022, for the launch of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand.

posted 06-22-2022 09:12 PM               

Launch No Earlier Than June 27

NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are now targeting June 27, 2022, for the launch of the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon, allowing teams more time for rocket preparations. CAPSTONE's trajectory design means that the spacecraft will arrive to its lunar orbit on Nov. 13 regardless of launch date within the current period, which runs through July 27.

posted 06-26-2022 02:55 PM               

Launch No Earlier Than June 28

NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are standing down from the June 27 launch attempt for the CAPSTONE mission to the moon to allow Rocket Lab to perform final systems checks.

Teams are evaluating weather and other factors to determine the date of the next launch attempt. The next launch opportunity within the current period is on June 28.

CAPSTONE's trajectory design means that the spacecraft will arrive at its lunar orbit on Nov. 13 regardless of launch date within the current period, which offers launch opportunities every day through July 27.

posted 06-27-2022 11:24 AM               

CAPSTONE Launch Targeting June 28

NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are targeting June 28 for the launch of the CAPSTONE mission. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 5:55 a.m. EDT (09:55 UTC).

posted 06-28-2022 12:00 AM               

Watch the launch from New Zealand of CAPSTONE, a new pathfinder CubeSat that will explore a unique orbit around the Moon!

CAPSTONE is targeted to launch at 5:55 a.m. EDT (9:55 UTC) Tuesday, June 28 on Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

posted 06-28-2022 06:30 AM               

CAPSTONE cubesat lifts off for lunar orbit to blaze path for NASA Gateway

A small private spacecraft is now on its way to the moon to test new technologies and pave the way for a NASA human-tended space station to be deployed into a special lunar orbit.

CAPSTONE, or Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, lifted off early Tuesday morning (June 28) on a four-and-a-half month journey to enter a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon. The same orbit will be used by Gateway, NASA's planned lunar platform from which Artemis missions will be able to reach any site on the moon's surface, including landings at the lunar south pole.

posted 07-01-2022 10:45 AM               

Rocket Lab Completes Fifth Orbit Raise For NASA's CAPSTONE Mission to The Moon

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. today (June 30) confirmed its Photon Lunar spacecraft successfully ignited its HyperCurie engine for a fifth time, further carrying NASA's CAPSTONE satellite toward the Moon.

This fifth burn of the HyperCurie engine has propelled CAPSTONE and Photon deeper into space, successfully raising the spacecraft's elliptical orbit. With this latest completed orbit-raising maneuver, Rocket Lab's delivery of CAPSTONE to the Moon on Photon has now passed the half-way point of the mission's second phase with Photon.

At the end of this mission phase, Photon will accelerate to more than 24,500 mph to break free of Earth's orbit and deploy CAPSTONE on a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon. CAPSTONE will then be controlled by Advanced Space (which owns and operates CAPSTONE on behalf of NASA) to enter an elongated orbit at the Moon called a near rectilinear halo orbit. The final HyperCurie engine ignition on Photon to help set CAPSTONE on its course to the Moon is expected in the coming days.

posted 07-04-2022 11:28 AM               

Rocket Lab Moon Mission for NASA a Success

Rocket Lab successfully deploys CAPSTONE satellite to lunar transfer orbit for NASA, charting a new path to the Moon. CAPSTONE is testing a never-before-flown orbit of the Moon and is the first mission of NASA's Artemis program.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. today (July 4) announced it has successfully deployed a pathfinding satellite for NASA, setting it on a course to the Moon. The deployment marks the successful completion of Rocket Lab's first deep space mission, paving the way for the Company's upcoming interplanetary missions to Mars and Venus.

Owned and operated by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) will be the first spacecraft to test the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. This is the same orbit intended for NASA's Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that will provide essential support for long-term astronaut lunar missions as part of the Artemis program.

Rocket Lab's role in the mission took place over two phases. First, CAPSTONE was successfully launched to low Earth orbit by Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle on June 28th. From there, Rocket Lab's Lunar Photon spacecraft provided in-space transportation, power, and communications to CAPSTONE. After six days of orbit-raising burns by Lunar Photon's 3D printed HyperCurie engine, CAPSTONE was deployed on its ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon as planned at 07:18 UTC on July 4th. The mission was Rocket Lab's fourth Electron launch this year, demonstrating the rocket's continued reliability. In addition to providing the launch, Rocket Lab designed, manufactured, and operated the Lunar Photon spacecraft, successfully completing a highly complex deep space mission and demonstrating Rocket Lab's growing capabilities as an end-to-end space company.

"The CAPSTONE mission marks the beginning of humanity's return to the Moon through NASA's Artemis program and we're incredibly proud that Rocket Lab has played a key role in that," said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. "The Rocket Lab team has been working on CAPSTONE with NASA and our mission partners for more than two years, developing new small satellite technology in the form of the Lunar Photon spacecraft to make this mission possible, so it's an incredible feeling after all that hard work and innovation to achieve mission success and set CAPSTONE on a course for the Moon. This has been Rocket Lab's most complex mission to date and our team has been incredible. We pushed Electron and Photon to their limits and proved it's possible to do big missions with small spacecraft. Now we'll be applying this ground-breaking technology for more interplanetary journeys, including our upcoming missions to Venus and Mars."

With Rocket Lab's role in the mission now complete, CAPSTONE's solo journey to the Moon has begun. CAPSTONE will use its own propulsion and the Sun's gravity to navigate the rest of the way to the Moon, a four-month journey that will have CAPSTONE arriving to its lunar orbit on November 13, 2022. The gravity-driven track will dramatically reduce the amount of fuel the CubeSat needs to get to the Moon. Advanced Space and Terran Orbital will manage the operation of the CAPSTONE satellite for the duration of its orbital lifespan.

The CAPSTONE mission was Rocket Lab's 27th Electron launch overall, but it featured several significant technological firsts for the Company, including:

• First deep space mission.
  
• First use of Lunar Photon, a high energy variant of the Rocket Lab-designed and built Photon spacecraft. Rocket Lab previously launched and continues to operate two low Earth orbit variants of the Photon spacecraft.
  
• First collaborative mission between Rocket Lab and Advanced Solutions Inc, a Colorado-based flight-software company acquired by Rocket Lab in late 2021.
  
• First time using the FR-lite satellite radio which Rocket Lab has an exclusive license agreement with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to manufacture.
  
• First mission where Electron's second stage deorbited the same day as launch.
  
• First mission planning and executing lunar trajectories.
  
• At 300 kg (661 lbs) of payload mass, the mission was Electron's heaviest lift to date.

CAPSTONE was the first in a series of interplanetary missions for Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft, including the ESCAPADE mission to Mars in 2024 and Rocket Lab's upcoming private mission to Venus.

Advanced Space of Colorado, a leading commercial space solutions company, owns the CAPSTONE satellite and operates the mission. CAPSTONE was designed and built by Terran Orbital. CAPSTONE development is supported by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate via the Small Spacecraft Technology Program at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. Advanced Exploration Systems within NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate supports the launch and mission operations. NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch management.

posted 07-05-2022 11:36 AM               

CAPSTONE communications issue

Following successful deployment and start of spacecraft commissioning on July 4, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft experienced communications issues while in contact with the Deep Space Network. The spacecraft team currently is working to understand the cause and re-establish contact.

The team has good trajectory data for the spacecraft based on the first full and second partial ground station pass with the Deep Space Network. If needed, the mission has enough fuel to delay the initial post separation trajectory correction maneuver for several days.

Additional updates will be provided as soon as possible.

posted 07-05-2022 08:20 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission: 05 July 2022 Update

On July 4, 2022, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) separated successfully from the launch vehicle and is heading to the Moon on behalf on NASA. The Advanced Space Operations Center and the Mission Operations Center at Terran Orbital are in full swing beginning mission operations, the DSN, and mission partners. We are proud of the hard work the operations team has been doing.

During commissioning activities an anomaly was experienced related to the communication subsystem; the operations team is actively working this issue with the Deep Space Network and determining the best next steps.

• As a result of this anomaly, the first trajectory correction maneuver – originally scheduled for the morning of July 5th – has been delayed. This maneuver is designed to more accurately target the transfer orbit to the Moon. This maneuver is the first in a series that are designed to make small corrections to increase the accuracy of the transfer orbit to the Moon. The spacecraft remains on the overall intended ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) while this targeting maneuver is delayed.
  
• One of the benefits of the BLT, the designed trajectory, is its robustness to delays such as this.
  
• The mission transfer approach and system margins provide time to resolve and understand this anomaly before proceeding with the first trajectory correction maneuver.
  
• At the time of publication, the CAPSTONE spacecraft is currently approximately 285,000 km from Earth (~8 times GEO) on its planned ballistic transfer orbit to the Moon.

Spacecraft was commissioning nominally for the first 11 hours.

• Spacecraft was deployed successfully from the launch vehicle.
  
• Spacecraft successfully deployed solar arrays, achieved three-axis stabilization, and entered a battery charging mode.
  
• Spacecraft successfully executed Earth-pointing mode, communicated with DSN stations in Madrid Spain and the operations team began check-out and commissioning of the spacecraft.
  
• The operations team was able to determine spacecraft state (position and velocity) and design initial trajectory correction maneuver.
  
• Propulsion system was commissioned and prepared for the first trajectory correction maneuver.

The CAPSTONE mission team has been working around the clock and through the holiday weekend to support this important mission. With CAPSTONE utilizing the BLT, it will take four months to reach the planned Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. As further details emerge, we will make them available.

posted 07-06-2022 11:15 AM               

Communications restored with CAPSTONE

We have re-established communications with CAPSTONE. The spacecraft is looking happy and healthy.

More details to come.

posted 07-06-2022 04:45 PM               

CAPSTONE Prepares for First Maneuver

Following communications issues, mission teams for NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) have re-established contact with the spacecraft through NASA's Deep Space Network. Data received from CAPSTONE shows that the spacecraft is in good health and operated safely on its own while it was out of contact with Earth.

Teams are preparing to carry out CAPSTONE's first trajectory correction maneuver – which will more precisely target CAPSTONE's transfer orbit to the Moon – as early as 11:30 a.m. EDT on July 7. As originally planned, CAPSTONE will arrive to its lunar orbit on Nov. 13.

The CAPSTONE team is still actively working to fully establish the root cause of the issue. Ground-based testing suggests the issue was triggered during commissioning activities of the communications system. The team will continue to evaluate the data leading up to the communications issue and monitor CAPSTONE's status.

The mission team, led by Advanced Space, initially re-established contact with CAPSTONE at 9:26 a.m. EDT on July 6. The signal confirmed that CAPSTONE was in the expected location, as predicted based on data from CAPSTONE's initial contacts on July 4. The team started recovery procedures and began receiving telemetry data from the spacecraft at 10:18 a.m. EDT.

posted 07-07-2022 06:20 PM               

CAPSTONE Trajectory Correction Maneuver a Success

At approximately 9:30 AM MT this morning (July 7), the CAPSTONE spacecraft successfully executed its first trajectory correction maneuver on its way to the Moon and the spacecraft is in a healthy state.

This maneuver is the first statistical maneuver of the mission meaning it is designed to clean up expected dispersions from the launch vehicle injection and does not change the baseline transfer approach or timing of arrival at the Moon on November 13th. Operations on the Ballistic Lunar Transfer and in Earth-Moon three-body orbits (such as Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits or NRHOs) require precise maneuvers and knowledge of the spacecraft state (position and velocity).

The CAPSTONE propulsion system was specifically designed and optimized for these precise maneuvers and the navigation system was built from the ground up to be efficient and scalable. All of this is supported by a uniquely qualified team of flight dynamics experts at Advanced Space with specialized focus on operations in cislunar space and multi-body orbital operations. Some details on the maneuver are below:

• This is the first maneuver executed by the CAPSTONE spacecraft using its on-board propulsion system. Prior to this maneuver the propulsion system was commissioned and demonstrated during initial de-tumble after spacecraft deployment on July 4th and during prior momentum desaturation maneuvers on July 6th and earlier today on July 7th.
  
• The maneuver was designed by the Advanced Space flight dynamics team based on navigation information collected by the Deep Space Network and processed by the Advanced Space flight dynamics team.
  
• The burn was commanded, and post-burn telemetry processed by operators at the Terran Orbital Mission Operations Center
  
• The maneuver itself was designed to be approximately 20 m/s and initial radiometric-based reconstruction suggests it achieved approximately 19.85 m/s which represents an error of approximately 0.75 % which is well within expectations and predictions. These details will be further refined as more data is collected
  
• At time of maneuver execution, the spacecraft was approximately 465,000 km from the Earth (~13 times further than the GEO belt and ~81,000 km further than the Moon).
  
• Prior to this maneuver the spacecraft was on a trajectory that would take it approximately 1.2 million km from Earth, after this maneuver the spacecraft is now targeting a trajectory that will take it approximately 1.4 million km from Earth (~39 times GEO, or 3.6 time the distance of the Moon)

As the team has continued to review data on the communications anomaly, the team remained confident with this conclusion prior to commanding the maneuver. Anomalies such as this are rarely a result of a single issue but instead are the result of a series of issues that converge in an unexpected way.

For CAPSTONE, this series of events began during commissioning with an improperly formatted command that triggered a radio vulnerability and was compounded by a spacecraft flight software contingency response fault. The system was ultimately recovered by the team as a result of autonomous flight software system operations that cleared the fault and brought the system back into communication with the ground. During the communications outage the spacecraft autonomously operated, maintained pointing, battery charge, and performed a momentum desaturation maneuver.

Up next for the CAPSTONE spacecraft is a second trajectory correction maneuver planned for Saturday July 9th at approximately 9:30 AM MT. This second maneuver will be much smaller than the first and will demonstrate the ability of the CAPSTONE spacecraft to perform very small and precise maneuvers, a capability that is critical to operations in the NRHO where it will arrive in November. This maneuver is designed to further clean up launch injection errors, and any execution errors that occurred in the execution of today's maneuver.

Over the next two days, the operations team will continue evaluating spacecraft status and continue commissioning the spacecraft while the flight dynamics team will reconstruct the first maneuver, establish updated navigation solutions and orbit predictions, and design the second maneuver based on this information.

posted 07-09-2022 03:09 PM               

Updated TCM Schedule

The CAPSTONE mission team has rescheduled the trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) originally targeting for this morning to review additional data and perform additional analysis to support modeling of the spacecraft performance during maneuvers. The rescheduled plan does not have any significant impact on the size of the planned correction maneuver which was part of the of TCM executed two days prior. The spacecraft is healthy, communicating with NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) and in a nominal state.

TCM1 had three scheduled maneuvers. TCM-1a, TCM-1b and TCM-1c. Below lists the purpose of these scheduled TCM-1 series.

1. Cleaning up the launch injection deviations from the Lunar Photon vehicle
   
2. Commissioning the thrusters which calibrates the propulsion system

TCM-1a completed approximately 90% of the objectives of the TCM. With the healthy state of the spacecraft TCM-1b did not need to be performed. Today's scheduled TCM-1c may still occur but is not needed today.

In the typical course of spacecraft commissioning activity, schedules often are adjusted. The mission team continues to work around the clock on flight dynamics analysis, trajectory design, spacecraft commanding, communications and health check activities and looks forward to the next needed maneuver.

We will update with the new planned maneuver time when available.

Overall, CAPSTONE is in a nominal state, healthy and still on schedule to arrival to the Moon in four months on November 13th.

posted 07-12-2022 03:21 PM               

CAPSTONE executes second course correction

NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) successfully completed its second trajectory correction maneuver starting at about 11:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

CAPSTONE will perform several such maneuvers during its four-month-long journey to lunar orbit to refine its trajectory to the Moon, with the next one targeted for late July. CAPSTONE is taking a long but fuel-efficient route to the Moon, flying about 958,000 miles (1.54 million kilometers) from Earth before looping back around to its near rectilinear halo orbit.

posted 08-26-2022 05:27 PM               

CAPSTONE spacecraft reaches record distance of 1.5M km from Earth

Advanced Space applauds their team and mission partners as apogee is achieved for its CAPSTONE mission commissioned by NASA.

Apogee, the furthest point at which the microwave-sized small satellite is from Earth, is at 1,531,949 km or 951,909 miles away from Earth at around 1:35:52 pm MT on Friday, August 26th. The dominance of the Sun's gravitational pull has served as one of the guiding forces to allow the extreme distance of the spacecraft. This is one of the features of the ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) — the transfer method being used by CAPSTONE to reach the unique orbit around the Moon. The CAPSTONE spacecraft will now head towards the Moon.

The CAPSTONE mission will test the lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), the intended orbit for Gateway, a lunar space station that will support NASA's Artemis program. CAPSTONE has contributed insights and shared data with Artemis 1 secondary payloads that will assist them in their mission operations.

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) launched on June 28th. It is a 12U, 55-pound CubeSat built by Terran Orbital. Using a fuel-efficient transfer method, CAPSTONE will take four months to reach the lunar orbit. A key feature of the BLT is that the mission operations and commissioning have the time during transit to evaluate performance and complete thorough check-out of systems before arriving at the Moon. As expected, the cruise thus far has focused on preparing the spacecraft for its mission at the Moon.

"It is tremendous that NASA had the foresight to have the CAPSTONE mission serve as a precursor to the Artemis missions. We are proud to be able to validate and actively support the secondary payloads that will be deployed on the upcoming launch of the Artemis 1 mission. This is exhilarating." said Bradley Cheetham, Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Space and Principal Investigator for CAPSTONE. "In 79 days, we will be inserting into the target orbit at the Moon. We're on the way back and the excitement is building."

A key mission objective is to demonstrate autonomous spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation services that will allow future spacecraft to determine their location in space without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth. This technology was developed by Advanced Space and is called CAPS™, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System. The CAPSTONE mission operations teams continue spacecraft commissioning and preparations for the next planned trajectory correction maneuver in early September.

Moon arrival for the CAPSTONE mission is November 13, 2022. The mission is planned for at least 18 months of operations orbiting the Moon.

posted 08-31-2022 08:56 AM               

CAPSTONE Goes the Distance for NASA's Artemis Program

The satellite reached its highest altitude at an apogee of 1.538 million km from Earth – the highest any Terran Orbital developed vehicle has ever flown

Terran Orbital Corporation today (Aug. 31) announced the CAPSTONE spacecraft successfully achieved its highest altitude – a point known as apogee – at 2:35 p.m. E.T. on August 26. Terran Orbital developed and co-operates the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, otherwise known as CAPSTONE, in cooperation with NASA and led by Advanced Space.

Apogee occurs when a satellite follows a non-circular orbit around the earth, creating an orbital ellipse with the center of the earth at one focus. Such a satellite has variable altitude and variable orbital speed. The point of highest altitude is called apogee. Details of CAPSTONE's apogee are as follows:

• CAPSTONE passed 1.5 million km from Earth at 15-AUG-2022 11:11:00.0000 UTC

• CAPSTONE reached its absolute max apogee on 26-AUG-2022 19:36:07 UTC when it reached 1.538 million km from Earth

CAPSTONE's max apogee of 1.538 million km from Earth beats previous Terran Orbital vehicle distances by many orders of magnitude to form a new record.

The dominance of the Sun's gravitational pull enables CAPSTONE's extreme distance as part of a ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) trajectory. CAPSTONE is using a BLT to reach and test the unique orbit around the Moon known as the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). The NRHO is the intended orbit for Gateway, a lunar space station that will support NASA's Artemis program. The significantly elongated orbit forms a precise balance point in the gravities between the Earth and the Moon and requires less propulsion capability for spacecraft flying to and from the Moon's surface than circular orbits.

"Terran Orbital is thrilled to guide CAPSTONE through and beyond apogee," said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell. "We greatly value our partnership with Advanced Space and are forever grateful to NASA for creating the historic Artemis program. Together, we are bringing people back to the Moon."

The 55-pound CAPSTONE will arrive at the Moon on November 13.

posted 09-10-2022 05:44 PM               

CAPSTONE Spacecraft in Safe Mode, Teams Working to Resolve Issue

The CAPSTONE spacecraft executed a planned trajectory correction maneuver on Thursday evening, Sept. 8, and CAPSTONE mission controllers have since obtained telemetry confirming that an issue put the spacecraft in safe mode near the end of the maneuver.

The CAPSTONE mission team has good knowledge of the state and status of the spacecraft. The mission operations team is in contact with the spacecraft and working towards a solution with support from the Deep Space Network. Additional updates will be provided as available.

posted 09-12-2022 03:51 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission: 12 September 2022 Update

On September 10th we provided an update on the CAPSTONE mission and below are updated details on the situation.

This is a dynamic operational situation, and the below details are provided based on our best knowledge at time of release. Updates to below information will be provided as we learn more.

• During or shortly after the third trajectory correction maneuver (TCM-3) on September 8th, the spacecraft suffered an anomaly that resulted in the vehicle attitude rates growing beyond the capacity of the on-board reaction wheels to control and counter. The vehicle was attempting to communicate with the ground for approximately 24 hours before any telemetry was recovered. At the point of recovery, the spacecraft was not in a stable configuration, it was not power positive, and the system was experiencing periodic resets.

• Navigation data collected after the anomaly suggests that the maneuver was completed or nearly complete when the anomaly occurred. This means the spacecraft remains on the intended trajectory and on course to the near rectilinear halo orbit at the Moon.

• After the planned TCM-3 maneuver, the spacecraft did not return to ground communications as expected which provided the first indication that there might be an issue.

• Working with limited data, the combined operations team determined it was prudent to declare an operational emergency Thursday evening, September 8th. From this point forward, the teams at the NASA Deep Space Network, Terran Orbital, and Advanced Space have been working around the clock to work the problem, understand what is happening on the spacecraft, and identify options to recover the spacecraft to normal operations.

• Rapid response enabled by the Deep Space Network support and quick thinking by the team at Terran Orbital allowed mission operators to quickly reconfigure the operational state of the spacecraft to stabilize the situation while recovery plans could be further evaluated.

• Based on this exceptional effort and using the limited data available, the operations teams have determined that the spacecraft is in safe mode and appears to have successfully been placed in a stable state. The vehicle is in a rotating orientation that provides partial illumination of the solar panels and results in weak transmission signals from the spacecraft low gain antennas. Without the unique capabilities of the Deep Space Network, the mission team would have little or no information on the status of the spacecraft.

• Modeling of the expected orientation and state of the vehicle into the future suggests it will remain stable. The vehicle is on the orbital trajectory intended and understanding this allows for continued tracking from ground stations well into the future. The vehicle in its current configuration is power positive, meaning that it is generating more power from the solar panels than the system is utilizing.

• The mission operations team is currently focused on recovery plans. These efforts will begin by working to improve the thermal situation of several subsystems including the propulsion subsystem. While work is ongoing to diagnose the cause of the anomaly, the team is preparing the spacecraft to attempt a detumble operation to regain attitude control of the vehicle. This detumble operation was successfully demonstrated after separation from the launch vehicle in July. A successful detumble will result in the vehicle resuming control of its orientation, orienting the solar panels to the Sun to fully charge the batteries of the power used during the detumble. The spacecraft will then orient to the ground and await further instructions. These recovery operations will be further evaluated over the coming days. Recovery timing will be guided by the data and analysis available to maximize the probability of a successful spacecraft operation.

The combined mission team including the Deep Space Network, Terran Orbital, Stellar Exploration, and Advanced Space have been working in a disciplined and collaborative way to stabilize the CAPSTONE spacecraft and prepare for recovery. Many details remain unknown as to the cause of the anomaly and significant risks are continuing to be analyzed.

Everyone on the mission team is focused on recovering from this anomaly and continuing the important objectives of the CAPSTONE mission. As more details are available, they will be provided.

We appreciate the dedicated work of all mission partners involved in these activities and the supportive messages received during this stressful time.

posted 09-15-2022 03:30 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission: 15 September 2022 Update

CAPSTONE received some relatively good news on the recovery progress for the spacecraft. The communications situation has dramatically improved, the power state of the spacecraft appears to be sufficient for continuous (duty cycled) heating of the propulsion system which dropped below its operational temperature, Over the past few days, CAPSTONE's power – though limited by the orientation of the spacecraft in its spin relative to the Sun – appears to be sufficient for heating of the propulsion system. When the spacecraft propulsion system temps are at +5C for 12+ hours the system will be further evaluated for use in the recovery operation. Information on the cause of the anomaly has been obtained and is being evaluated, and recovery plans that mitigate risk of further anomalous behavior are being developed. We do not have a timeline for a recovery attempt, but the team is working hard to make progress guided by what we are learning from the data with an explicit goal to minimize further risk to the mission.

The spacecraft continues on its planned path to the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit around the Moon.

We are effusively grateful to the teams at the Deep Space Network, NASA, Terran Orbital, and Advanced Space who have supported this ongoing effort continuously over the past 5 days. Without the quick action and dedicated attention of all of these exceptional individuals, the CAPSTONE mission would likely have been lost due to this anomaly. As it stands today, the vehicle is stable, and the combined mission operations team is working towards attempting a recovery operation.

This remains a dynamic and changing situation. We are focused on working the technical situation with an emphasis on disciplined analysis supporting a well thought out recovery attempt. The success of the CAPSTONE mission remains our primary focus. As we are able to, we will continue to share information on progress.

posted 09-21-2022 03:31 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission: 21 September 2022 Update

Over the weekend, CAPSTONE successfully commanded its heating system above its minimum required temperature of 41 degrees F (5 degrees C) while maintaining positive power generation. The CAPSTONE Operations team will attempt an operation to stop CAPSTONE’s spin, the next major step in returning the spacecraft to normal operation.

posted 10-07-2022 02:10 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission Operations Update: Initial Recovery Successful

Over the past couple of weeks, the CAPSTONE mission team has been working to resolve an anomaly that occurred early last month and resulted in the spacecraft losing full 3-axis attitude control and entering into a spin stabilized state.

Through extensive analysis and evaluation supported by a dedicated team of individuals on the mission team and key partners, the most likely cause of the anomaly was identified as a valve related issue on one of the spacecraft's eight (8) thrusters. The partially open valve resulted in thrust from the associated thruster whenever the propulsion system was pressurized. To attempt a recovery from this condition, the mission team conducted multiple tests on the vehicle and evaluated extensive telemetry and simulation data and then formulated a plan for attempting recovery of the vehicle's full 3-axis control.

This recovery sequence was uploaded to the spacecraft yesterday (Thursday) and was executed early this morning (Friday 10/7). Initial telemetry and observation data after the recovery attempt points to a successful recovery of the system which has now regained 3-axis attitude control. The updated spacecraft attitude has oriented the spacecraft solar arrays to the Sun and implemented an orientation for the downlink antennas which significantly improves data downlink performance as compared to the pre-recovery attitude.

This is a major accomplishment for the mission team and positions the mission well for upcoming critical activities and arrival at the Moon. The risks of this anomaly and recovery process were significant and the team worked extensively and collaboratively to mitigate these risks through disciplined engineering analysis and review. Over the coming days, the spacecraft status will be monitored while the team works to evaluate subsequent changes to the spacecraft operating procedures so that upcoming critical events can be conducted in the possible presence of a valve that remains partially open. In parallel, the mission team will work to design possible fixes for this valve related issue to further reduce the risk of future propulsive operations.

The CAPSTONE mission team is grateful for the public and private support provided to the team during this challenging phase of the mission. Many thanks to the collaborative efforts and many hours of hard work from the CAPSTONE mission team and partners including Terran Orbital, NASA, NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN), Stellar Exploration, and Advanced Space. Consistent with our goal to operate the mission in a safe and transparent way, we will continue to provide updates as information is available.

CAPSTONE remains on track to insert into its targeted Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit at the Moon on November 13th.

posted 10-31-2022 05:54 PM               

CAPSTONE Completes Successful Maneuver, Teeing Up Moon Orbit

The CAPSTONE spacecraft successfully completed a trajectory correction maneuver on Thursday, Oct. 27, teeing up the spacecraft's arrival to lunar orbit on Nov. 13.

"This TCM confirms the preparation, extensive analysis, teams working together and continued hard work to allow this mission to remain successful, especially following the recent anomaly," said Alec Forsman, Systems Engineering Lead and Mission Operations Manager for CAPSTONE at Advanced Space, "Every activity provides many lessons learned before our arrival at the Moon. These experiences better prepare the team for lunar operations."

Some numbers from the TCM include:

• Maneuver telemetry shows that the spacecraft propulsion system fired for the nominal duration of approximately 220 seconds.

• At the time of maneuver execution, the spacecraft was approximately 308,076 miles or 495,800 km from the Earth (~14 times further than the GEO belt and ~69,200 miles or 111,400 km further than the Moon).

• CAPSTONE has been flying solo in space for over 100 days (125 days since launch, 119 days since separation).

Recently, the Deep Space Network (DSN) performed a test with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to confirm that LRO could receive and return the signal CAPSTONE will be using to interact with the spacecraft as part of the CAPS software demonstrations once it arrives at the moon.

"The CAPSTONE team at Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, and their partners has shown great resilience over the past several weeks. Now, as CAPSTONE approaches lunar orbit, we are looking forward to getting into more of the technology demonstrations that are part of this mission and gathering operational data with the spacecraft in orbit at the Moon," said Christopher Baker, program executive for the Small Spacecraft Technology program in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.

posted 11-13-2022 07:47 PM               

CAPSTONE Arrives to Orbit at the Moon

The CAPSTONE mission operations team confirmed that NASA’s CAPSTONE spacecraft arrived at its orbit at the Moon Sunday evening (Nov. 13). The CubeSat completed an initial orbit insertion maneuver, firing its thrusters to put the spacecraft into orbit, at 7:39 p.m. EST (0039 GMT on Nov. 14).

CAPSTONE is now in a near-rectilinear halo orbit, or NRHO. This particular NRHO is the same orbit that will be used by Gateway, the Moon-orbiting space station that will support NASA’s Artemis missions. CAPSTONE is the first spacecraft to fly an NRHO, and the first CubeSat to operate at the Moon.

In the next five days, CAPSTONE will perform two additional clean-up maneuvers to refine its orbit. After these maneuvers, the team will review data to confirm that CAPSTONE remains on track in the NRHO.

posted 11-13-2022 09:16 PM               

CAPSTONE is at the Moon!

The big day has come and CAPSTONE is at the Moon!

CAPSTONE made its initial insertion into the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) a couple hours ago. Two smaller correction maneuvers will take place this week to ensure the spacecraft is confirmed into the complex lunar orbit. CAPSTONE is the first CubeSat to fly to and operate at the Moon.

The leadup to the NRHO insertion maneuver (NIM) was quite busy behind the scenes. Here is the play-by-play action of some of the what the CAPSTONE Mission Team (as designed/planned) in the hours leading up to the insertion looked like today:

• 4:23pm MT: The radio ceased transmissions and oriented the solar panels at the Sun to top the batteries off.

• 5:08pm MT: The spacecraft slewed to the burn attitude and let the fuel settle in the tank.

• 5:22:27 MT: The spacecraft began execution of the NRHO Insertion Maneuver (NIM). It thrusted at about 0.44 Newtons (equivalent of the weight of about 9 pieces of 8.5x11in paper in your hand!!).

• 5:34:22 MT: NIM as designed was complete. It lasts just under 16 minutes

• 5:34:28 MT: Spacecraft slews to Sun-Point to recharge batteries.

• 5:39:09 MT: NIM burn officially ends.

• 6:00 MT: Initial data received and insertion into the orbit was executed as planned

We are grateful to the CAPSTONE Mission Team, NASA's DSN, Terran Orbital, Stellar Exploration and our team at Advanced Space. The 24/7 shifts have begun and are ready to get through this week's Insertion Maneuvers to make sure we are stable in the orbit. So far, so good. Today, we celebrate this big milestone.

posted 11-21-2022 01:26 PM               

CAPSTONE Forges New Path for NASA's Future Artemis Moon Missions

NASA's CAPSTONE spacecraft has completed final maneuvers to place it in its target orbit around the Moon, refining its path in the orbit it arrived to last week.

The spacecraft now is in the operational phase of its pathfinding mission, during which it will test an orbit key to future Artemis missions and demonstrate new technologies for spacecraft operating near the Moon.

"NASA's partnership with Advanced Space on CAPSTONE is enabling NASA to gain critical, additional capabilities at a lower cost," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "CAPSTONE is part of our new era of human exploration at the Moon, testing the unique orbit planned for the Gateway lunar space station."

CAPSTONE – short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment – is a technology demonstration, designed to prove the reliability of new capabilities so that they can be used in future missions. CAPSTONE is the first spacecraft to fly in a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) and the first CubeSat to operate at the Moon. This orbit is the same planned for Gateway, an upcoming Moon-orbiting space station that will support NASA's Artemis missions. CAPSTONE will gather data on this orbit for at least six months to support Gateway's operational planning.

"Missions like CAPSTONE allow us to reduce risk for future spacecraft, giving us a chance to test our understanding and demonstrate technologies we intend to use in the future," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. "Partnering with innovative U.S. companies, including several small businesses, on CAPSTONE has given us the chance to forge new ground, merging commercial interests with NASA's goals."

CAPSTONE took a four-month journey from launch to orbit – overcoming challenges related to communications and propulsion along the way – and performed an initial orbit insertion maneuver on Nov. 13. In the following days, the CAPSTONE mission operations team, led by Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado, analyzed data from the spacecraft to confirm it was in the expected orbit and carried out two clean-up maneuvers to refine its track.

In addition to studying this unique orbit, CAPSTONE's mission also includes two technology demonstrations that could be used by future spacecraft. The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, or CAPS, is a navigational software developed by Advanced Space that would allow spacecraft operating near the Moon to determine their position in space without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth. CAPSTONE will demonstrate this technology by communicating directly with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been in orbit around the Moon since 2009. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate one-way ranging using a chip-scale atomic clock, which could allow spacecraft to determine their position in space without the need for a dedicated downlink to ground stations.

"We have been working to this point since we started the company over 11 years ago. Getting into this orbit at the Moon validates so much hard work and grit by the combined CAPSTONE mission operations team," said Bradley Cheetham, principal investigator for CAPSTONE and chief executive officer of Advanced Space. "The capabilities we have demonstrated and the technologies still to be matured will support future missions for decades to come."

CAPSTONE launched June 28, 2022, aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Mahia, New Zealand. After launch, a Photon upper stage raised CAPSTONE's orbit and injected the spacecraft into its ballistic lunar transfer, a long but fuel-efficient trajectory that carried the spacecraft to the Moon over the course of more than four months.

CAPSTONE is commercially owned and operated by Advanced Space. It represents an innovative collaboration between NASA and industry to provide rapid results and feedback to inform future exploration and science missions. The spacecraft was designed and built by Terran Orbital. Operations are performed jointly by teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital. The mission is also supported by Stellar Exploration, Space Dynamics Laboratory, Orion Space Solutions, Tethers Unlimited, Inc., and Morehead State University.

posted 02-08-2023 05:07 PM               

CAPSTONE Mission Demonstrating Utility and Resilience at the Moon

The CAPSTONE spacecraft continues to operate at the Moon and the vehicle is happy and healthy. The mission has accomplished four mission objectives and is making progress on additional objectives. Two mission objectives were completed during the transfer to the moon and both directly informed Artemis I secondary payloads with regard to radio and ground station performance.

The system has been operating in an Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) for 85 days and has completed approximately 12.5 orbits since arrival Nov. 13, which fulfills a mission objective of more than six orbits. During this time the spacecraft has operated successfully through two lunar eclipses which present a challenge for the spacecraft thermal and power systems.

Other notable events include the successful execution of two maintenance maneuvers to keep CAPSTONE in its desired orbit. Mission operators had originally planned to execute an orbital maintenance maneuver each revolution of the orbit, but this new cadence has been selected to help reduce operational risk and complexity. This updated operational approach maintains the required orbit phasing for the mission and demonstrates the robustness of the design strategy for these maneuvers. This design strategy has been developed by the NASA team supporting Gateway at the Johnson Space Center.

The mission team has successfully completed interface testing with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ground systems and during the first attempt to obtain cross-link measurements on Jan. 18, LRO received a signal from CAPSTONE but the CAPSTONE radio system did not collect crosslink ranging measurements from the returned signal. This initial attempt is informing subsequent work which will be further evaluated on upcoming attempts. Utilizing simulated measurements, the flight software for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) has been demonstrated at the Moon, a critical step in maturing functionality that will enable future missions.

Most recently the CAPSTONE spacecraft demonstrated its continued resilience by recovering from an anomaly that resulted in the spacecraft being unable to receive commands from ground operators. Beginning on Jan. 26 the system no longer responded to commands. This issue was cleared by the on-board fault protection system as designed on Feb. 6 and the system has returned to normal operations. Lessons learned from this anomaly will result in operational procedure changes to speed recovery from any future similar anomalies.

Following separation from the launch vehicle on July 4, the navigation team at Advanced Space has maintained excellent knowledge of the spacecraft location in space. Through communication outages, traversing a maximum distance of 1,531,949 km from the Earth, and thruster anomalies that left the spacecraft spinning at a high rate, this knowledge has assisted the spacecraft operations team at Terran Orbital in operating through a variety of challenges. This resiliency is a testament to the CAPSTONE mission team including Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, the Deep Space Network, the Space Dynamics Laboratory, and many others.

In the coming weeks the CAPSTONE mission team will prepare for further crosslink experiments with LRO while also preparing for subsequent technology demonstrations including a new data type for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) which utilizes one-way uplink measurements enabled by an onboard Chip Scale Atomic Clock.

The spacecraft still has about 56 percent of its fuel remaining which will provide approximately 120 m/s of delta-v. This fuel provides significant margin to operate in the NRHO for the planned mission duration and beyond.

A fourth mission objective, to disseminate lessons learned from the mission, has also been satisfied. Thus far the mission team has published several papers specific to the mission operations of CAPSTONE in addition to those published related to the program development itself.

posted 05-18-2023 05:14 PM               

Advanced Space Announces Successful Completion of 6-Month CAPSTONE Primary Mission for NASA

Team moves to Enhanced Mission to continue pathfinding technology for lunar operations, navigation and communication at the Moon

Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of the six-month Primary Mission for CAPSTONE, the first commercial satellite to operate at the Moon. The CAPSTONE mission's objective is to pioneer a new and challenging lunar orbit - the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) - to help inform future operations for the Gateway lunar space station that will support NASA's Artemis missions. CAPSTONE has operated in the NRHO for six months, following its second correction maneuver after orbit insertion.

Above: First published image from CAPSTONE mission from the onboard imager. As part of the Primary Mission, the Advanced Space team was able to capture the attached image of the lunar surface on the 3rd of May 2023 at 15:11 UTC. At this time, the spacecraft was near its perilune — the spacecraft's closest approach to the Moon — which occurs approximately above the Moon's North pole. The center of this image is approximately located at 25 deg N, 85 deg E on the lunar surface.

Since entering the NRHO six months ago, the CAPSTONE mission has achieved many accomplishments, including:

• 28 successful orbits
  
• 7 maneuvers
  
• 89 published orbit determination navigation solutions
  
• Collected more than 315,000 measurements from the Deep Space Network including the site at Morehead State University. CAPSTONE was the first mission to use Morehead State University - this capacity added to DSN was critical to support the mission.
  
• Endured 6 lunar eclipses with a maximum duration of 74.32 minutes
  
• As designed, zero Earth eclipses

CrossLink Communications

In addition to the milestones and objectives outlined above, Advanced Space also announced the successful demonstration of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) which collected crosslink measurements between CAPSTONE and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on May 9th. This milestone was met after two years of collaboration between Advanced Space and the LRO Team.

"We're extremely proud that the CAPSTONE mission has reached its primary mission milestone. Navigating to the Moon and in the NRHO has presented a lot of challenges that the mission teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital have had to overcome," said Alec Forsman, Mission Operations Manager for CAPSTONE at Advanced Space. "We've been able to share valuable insights with NASA who continues to be supportive and instrumental in our success. Seeing the CAPS technology successfully executed is also an incredible achievement for the team and is the culmination of nearly 6 years of hard work at Advanced Space. We thank LRO for their support as we'll continue to perform and learn from these demonstrations."

During this demonstration, the CAPSTONE spacecraft sent a specialized signal to LRO which returned the signal and allowed CAPSTONE to calculate range and Doppler measurements. This was a primary objective for the mission which sought to showcase Advanced Space's autonomous onboard navigation solution, CAPS. Using the gathered data, the team will look to improve subsequent crosslink demonstrations and continue to work towards demonstrating operational feasibility. In the future, additional data types will be demonstrated and incorporated into CAPS to deliver navigation knowledge to users in orbit and on the surface of the Moon.

"As the first U.S. commercial mission to the Moon and the first spacecraft to operate in this unique orbit, CAPSTONE is helping inform future lunar exploration operations for the Artemis program," said Christopher Baker, program executive for the Small Spacecraft Technology program in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. "Importantly, the mission also is pushing the boundaries of what we can do with small spacecraft and how new technologies and commercial capabilities can support missions to the Moon and beyond."

Lunar Imagery

As an addition to the mission objectives, the CAPSTONE spacecraft was designed with an imager on board. This imager was included to support technology demonstration as well as public awareness objectives. As part of the Primary Mission, the Advanced Space team was able to capture the attached image of the lunar surface on the 3rd of May 2023 at 15:11 UTC. At this time, the spacecraft was near its perilune—the spacecraft's closest approach to the Moon—which occurs approximately above the Moon's North pole. The center of this image is approximately located at 25° N, 85° E on the lunar surface.

Upcoming Milestones

While the Primary Mission saw several significant milestones, the CAPSTONE mission is not complete. The mission team, led by Advanced Space, is now planning and preparing to execute the "Enhanced Mission" phase which will see the CAPSTONE spacecraft remain in the NRHO for up to 12 months, continuing to demonstrate critical technologies that will support future missions to the Moon.

Continued operations are planned during the Enhanced Mission phase with specific emphasis on further demonstrating additional collections for crosslink measurements and one-way uplink measurements from the Earth. The Enhanced Mission will also emphasize increasing efficiency and automation by the flight dynamics system as a precursor to multi-mission support in the future. Extended mission plans will be considered beyond this next mission phase if the spacecraft continues to weather the conditions posed by the lunar radiation and thermal environments.

"We are very grateful to NASA, our mission partners and everyone who has supported us through this journey," said Advanced Space CEO and President Bradley Cheetham. "The development of CAPS started as an SBIR back in 2017 and has now evolved into a significant historical development in space exploration. We look forward to ongoing operations of the spacecraft at the Moon and future missions it will support."

posted 11-17-2023 10:26 AM               

Terran Orbital Celebrates CAPSTONE Spacecraft's One Year in Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit

Terran Orbital celebrates the one-year milestone of the CAPSTONE mission in a lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). CAPSTONE, designed, built, and integrated by Terran Orbital and owned by Advanced Space, has demonstrated significant achievements during its mission.

CAPSTONE accomplished its primary objective within the first six months in NRHO, successfully testing the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) in coordination with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). This included showcasing the spacecraft's capability to fulfill its intended purpose of achieving and maintaining NRHO, imaging the Moon, and paving the way for future lunar exploration efforts. CAPSTONE has remained in NRHO, continuing to conduct experiments during an enhanced mission phase.

Key features of CAPSTONE include its alignment with Terran Orbital's Voyager platform specifications, producing over 100W of peak power, incorporating redundant avionics for enhanced reliability, and featuring Stellar Exploration's robust propulsion system. The spacecraft's operations in NRHO have provided NASA with valuable, cost-effective data for the planned Gateway space station, crucial for supporting NASA's Artemis missions to the lunar surface.

The CAPSTONE mission has achieved numerous milestones, including over 56 successful revolutions in a lunar NRHO, 25 independent maneuvers utilizing over 98 m/s of deltaV, and demonstrating advanced propulsion capabilities in a nanosatellite form factor. Furthermore, the dedicated CAPSTONE team overcame tremendous adversity when resolving an anomaly that caused the spacecraft to tumble at over 110deg/s, requiring over a month of recovery efforts to bring CAPSTONE back to a nominal operational state.

Throughout its mission, CAPSTONE has established more than 350 Deep Space Network (DSN) contacts, with over 70 involving collaboration with Morehead State University. Notably, CAPSTONE is the first mission to leverage the resources of Morehead State University for two-way communications with Cislunar space, highlighting its commitment to partnerships and advancing space exploration.

CAPSTONE has been recognized by the industry for its milestone achievements in two recent awards: In 2022, the program received the Small Satellite Mission of the Year Award from the AIAA Small Satellite Technical Committee, and in 2023, the program received a NASA Group Achievement Award.

CAPSTONE's continued success demonstrates its contribution to setting new standards in spacecraft performance and resilience, pushing the boundaries of lunar exploration. The mission's achievements are a testament to the collaborative efforts of the entire CAPSTONE team, reaffirming Terran Orbital Corporation's commitment to advancing the frontiers of space exploration.