Space company Rocket Lab will launch a satellite to the moon in the fourth quarter of this year on behalf of NASA. The mission is part of NASA’s Artemis program to land humans on the moon again.
With the launch, the Capstone cubesat, created by Advanced Space, placed in an elliptical orbit around the moon. Capstone stands for cislunar autonomous positioning system technology operations and navigation experiment and this small satellite will test which drive is needed to maintain the desired orbit around the moon.
As part of the Artemis lunar program, the Gateway placed in a similar orbit around the moon. That is a space station that serves as a flying base for future lunar missions.
Capstone – Photos © NASA/Rocket Lab/Advanced Space/Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems
Commissioned by NASA Rocket Lab launches the Capstone satellite with its Electron rocket stage and Photon ‘satellite bus’. It is the company’s first launch to the moon. The launch was previously scheduled for the beginning of this year, but that has now been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2021.
Rocket Lab has so far performed 21 launches with its Electron rocket, carrying 105 satellites into space. The 18-meter rocket can carry a maximum of 300 kilograms into low-Earth orbit. The rocket stage can be reused by landing it in the sea or picking it up from the air with a helicopter. The American company is also working on a much larger rocket that can land independently. That is the Neutron, which can carry up to 2000 kilograms to the moon.