Rocket Lab Begins Payload Integration for CAPSTONE Mission to the Moon
CAPSTONE will be launched to an initial low Earth orbit by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle and then placed on a ballistic lunar transfer by Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft bus. Unlike the Apollo lunar missions of the 1960s and 70s, which took a free return trajectory to the Moon, this fuel efficient ballistic lunar transfer makes it possible to deploy CAPSTONE to such a distant orbit using a small launch vehicle.
Terran Orbital Delivers NASA’s CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration to SpaceX Transporter-5 for Launch
The CPOD project is being led by Terran Orbital with funding from NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.