LONG BEACH, Calif.–( BUSINESS WIRE )–Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or the “Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today confirmed its Photon Lunar spacecraft has successfully completed the sixth in-orbit burn of the HyperCurie engine, bringing the CAPSTONE satellite closer to the Moon. Lunar photon apogee—the point at which the spacecraft is farthest from Earth during its orbit—is now 43,297 miles (69,680 km).
This sixth burn was originally planned to be two burns, but Rocket Lab’s space systems team decided that the HyperCurie engine would be able to perform one maneuver to achieve the same delta-v, so it combined the two.
The next and final burn is intended to place CAPSTONE on a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to the Moon traveling at 24,500 mph (39,400 km/h) to be released from Earth orbit. This final maneuver is currently scheduled to take place on July 4 at the earliest. After separating from the Lunar Photon, CAPSTONE will use its own propulsion and the Sun’s gravity to travel the rest of the way to the Moon, a four-month journey that will see CAPSTONE arrive in lunar orbit on November 13.
ABOUT THE CAPSTONE:
Designed and built by Terran Orbital and owned and operated by Advanced Space on behalf of NASA, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) satellite will be the first spacecraft to test a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. This is the same orbit designated for NASA’s Gateway, a multipurpose lunar orbiter that will provide essential support for long-duration lunar missions for astronauts as part of the Artemis program. CAPSTONE was successfully launched into space on Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle on June 28.
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