Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “The Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, successfully launched CAPSTONE, a microwave-sized satellite designed to test a new orbit around the moon for NASA.
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Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle takes off from launch complex 1 for the CAPSTONE mission to the moon for NASA (Photo: Business Wire)
CAPSTONE was launched at 09:55 UTC on June 28 with an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The mission was Electron’s 27th Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote launch.
Designed and built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Terran Orbital Corporation, and owned and operated by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat will be the first spacecraft to test Near Rectilinear Halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon. This is the same orbit intended for NASA’s Gateway & CloseCurlyQuote, a multifunctional orbital station on the Moon that will provide basic support for long-term lunar missions by astronauts as part of the Artemis program.
“Today’s launch of CloseCurlyQuote was an important step in the return of humanity to the moon and a testament to the determination, determination and innovation of the hundreds of people behind CAPSTONE,” said Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. “The Rocket Lab was founded to open access to space and enable revolutionary missions like the one that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with small satellites. While CAPSTONE’s journey to the moon has only just begun, we are proud to have safely delivered CAPSTONE into space. ”
Thanks to the flawless launch of an Electron rocket to a low orbit for parking on Earth, CAPSTONE is now in a stable orbit attached to the Rocket Lab ‘Photon Lunar spacecraft bus – an extremely capable interplanetary spacecraft that will provide transportation to space for placement. CAPSTONE on a course for the moon. From the original parking orbit that CAPSTONE is now in, Photon Lunar & CloseCurlyQuote’s HyperCurie engine will perform a series of orbiting maneuvers for five days. The HyperCurie engine will start periodically to increase the speed of Photon & CloseCurlyQuote, stretching its orbit in a prominent ellipse around the Earth. Six days after launch, the HyperCurie will ignite for the last time, accelerating the Photon Lunar to 24,500 mph (39,500 km / h) and setting it on a ballistic lunar transfer. Within 20 minutes of this final burn, Photon will launch CAPSTONE into space for the first phase of CubeSat & CloseCurlyQuote’s solo flight. CAPSTONE & CloseCurlyQuote’s trip to NRHO is expected to take about four months from now. Assisted by the Sun’s gravity, CAPSTONE will reach a distance of 963,000 miles from Earth – more than three times the distance between Earth and the Moon – before being pulled back to the Earth-Moon system. This curved track follows dynamic gravitational contours in deep space.
Unlike Apollo’s lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s, which took a trajectory of free return to the moon, this ballistic lunar transfer with fuel economy makes it possible to deploy CAPSTONE in such a distant orbit with the help of a small launch vehicle. Although this gravity-driven path takes longer to reach the moon, it will drastically reduce the amount of fuel CAPSTONE will need to reach lunar orbit.
CAPSTONE’s journey can be tracked live with interactive 3D real-time visualization of NASA’s Solar System & CloseCurlyQuote. Starting about a week after launch and during the CAPSTONE & CloseCurlyQuote mission, you can virtually ride with CubeSat through NASA & CloseCurlyQuote’s eyes.
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+ About Rocket Lab Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with a proven track record of mission success. We provide reliable launch services, satellite production, spacecraft components and orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more accessible to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the small Electron orbital launch vehicle and the Photon satellite platform, and develops the 8-tonne Neutron-class launch vehicle. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched rocket in the United States each year and has delivered 147 satellites into orbit for private and public sector organizations, allowing operations in the field of national security, research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring and communications. Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote’s Photon platform has been chosen to support NASA’s missions to the moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads on two launch pads, including two launch pads on a private orbital launch pad located in New Zealand and a second launch pad in Virginia, USA, which is expected to be operational in 2022. To learn more, visit www. rocketlabusa.com.
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