Rocket Lab has successfully launched CAPSTONE, a microwave-oven-sized satellite designed to test a new orbit around the Moon for NASA.
CAPSTONE was launched on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The mission was Rocket Lab’s 27th Electron launch. The CAPSTONE CubeSat will be the first spacecraft to test the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit around the Moon. This will be the same orbit intended for NASA’s Gateway program, a multipurpose Moon-orbiting station that will provide essential support for long-term astronaut lunar missions as part of the Artemis program. Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO, said “Today’s launch was an important step in humanity’s return to the Moon and a testament to the determination, resolve, and innovation of the hundreds of people behind CAPSTONE. Rocket Lab was founded to open access to space and enable ground-breaking missions like this that push the limits of what’s possible with small satellites.
While CAPSTONE’s journey to the Moon has only just begun, we’re proud to have safely delivered CAPSTONE to space.” Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 147 satellites to orbit.
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