CAPSTONE Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast) from Launch Complex 1,Mahia Peninsula,New Zealand - 28 June 2022 - preparing the way for the Gateway space station

NASA's CAPSTONE: Flying a New Path to the Moon

Rocket Lab Announces NASA Solar Sail Contract

In a 6 October 2021 press release,Rocket Lab USA of Long Beach,California announced it has been chosen to launch NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (AC3S) on the Electron launch vehicle.The NASA technology employs composite materials in the lightweight booms that will deploy from a CubeSat to support the solar sail.Solar sails use the pressure of photons,particles of light which lack mass and were first posited by Albert Einstein,for propulsion of deep space missions without the need for conventional rocket fuel.The AC3S demo will facilitate the design of future large-scale composite solar systems for such purposes as space weather early warning satellites;near-Earth asteroid reconnaissance missions;and communications relays for crewed exploration missions,such as to Mars.* The launch is slated for mid-2022 at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand.The launch will feature the Electron rocket's Kick Stage capability for deploying rockets to unique orbits-in this case,to the higher orbit required by AC3S than the other CubeSats that will ride along on the launch.The Kick Stage will perform a special burn for AC3S with its 3D printed Curie engine,raising the AC3S for its deployment.Said Rocket Lab's founder and CEO Peter Beck: We are thrilled to be NASA's lauch partner for this innovative mission...We're excited to see composites used yet again to unlock new capabilities in space.* Indeed,Mr.Beck pointed out that the Electron rocket itself is the world's first full carbon composite orbital launch vehicle.* Rocket Lab USA Inc (RKLB)

Scouting an Orbit for Gateway:Rocket Lab Chosen to Launch NASA's CAPSTONE Mission

The launch services contract for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) has been awarded to Rocket Lab USA Inc.Under the 9.95 million deal,the company will launch CAPSTONE on its Electron rocket from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility,Virginia.RL's Photon platform will then insert the CAPSTONE CubeSat into a trans-lunar injection,enabling it to venture to the Moon and achieve cislunar orbit on its own,a spaceflight that will take three months.
CAPSTONE will verify the characteristics of a near-rectilinear orbit for future missions and conduct a navigation demonstration with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.According to Marshall Smith,NASA's director of human exploration programs:
CAPSTONE is a rapid,risk-tolerant demonstration that sets out to learn about the unique,seven-day cislunar orbit we are also targeting for Gateway (the small space station that will serve as a platform for missions exploring the Moon and Mars).*
Advanced Space of Boulder,Colorado will develop and operate the CubeSat,and Tyvak Satellite Systems of Irvine,California will assist by building and testing CAPSTONE.*
CAPSTONE is scheduled for an early 2021 launch from the new Rocket Lab launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) within NASA Wallops.*