At the beginning of 2022, various launches to the Moon by space agencies and private companies seemed to be imminent. So far, none of them have come off the lunch pad.
But on Tuesday, CAPSTONE, the first moonshot of the year, will be launched. Small spacecraft are sponsored by NASA, but most are operated by private companies. Here’s what you need to know about CAPSTONE:
When will it be released? How can I watch it?
Press coverage of the launch will begin on Tuesday at 5 am EST on NASA Television. The rocket needs to be launched at the exact moment, 5:55 AM, in order for the spacecraft to be lofted into the correct orbit.
If the rocket misses that moment due to weather or technical issues, there is an additional chance every day until July 27th.
Why is NASA launching CAPSTONE?
The official name of the mission is Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. It will act as a scout for certain lunar orbits, and eventually a manned space station will be built as part of NASA’s program, Artemis, to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.
The gateway, the outpost NASA wants to build, acts as a way station to stop future crew members before they advance to the moon. NASA has determined that the best place to place this outpost is known as the near-straight halo orbit.
A halo orbit is an orbit that is affected by the gravity of two objects (in this case the earth and the moon). The effects of the two objects make the orbit very stable and minimize the amount of propellant required for the spacecraft to orbit the moon.
The gravitational interaction also keeps the orbit at an angle of about 90 degrees to the line of sight from the earth. (This is an almost linear part of the name.) Therefore, spacecraft in this orbit will not pass behind the moon, where communication is cut off.
The gateway’s orbit is within approximately 2,200 miles from the Moon’s North Pole and loops out to a distance of 44,000 miles beyond the South Pole. Traveling around the moon takes about a week.
No spacecraft has traveled in this orbit. Therefore, CAPSTONE provides NASA with data to confirm a mathematical model for operating a gateway outpost in a nearly linear halo orbit.
Which company runs CAPSTONE?
NASA has not designed or built CAPSTONE, nor has it operated. The spacecraft belongs to and is managed by Advanced Space, a company with 45 employees just outside Denver. Advanced Space actually purchased a 55-pound microwave-sized satellite from another company, Terran Orbital.
It is also marketed by Rocket Lab, a US and New Zealand company that is a leader in orbiting small payloads, rather than SpaceX or NASA’s other major aerospace contractors. The company has its own launch site for electron rockets on the North Island of New Zealand.
NASA has spent about $ 20 million on Advanced Space’s spacecraft manufacturing and operation, and just under $ 10 million on Rocket Lab’s launcher.