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Updated May 17th, 2022 at 19:38 IST

Rocket Lab completes launch rehearsal for NASA's CAPSTONE; readies for 1st moon mission

Rocket Lab is heading toward its first mission beyond the low-Earth orbit (LEO) as it has been chosen by NASA to launch the CAPSTONE CubeSat.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
Rocket Lab
Image: Twitter/@RocketLab | Image:self
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Rocket Lab is heading toward its first mission beyond the low-Earth orbit (LEO) as it has been chosen by NASA to launch the CAPSTONE CubeSat into the moon's orbit. In a recent announcement, NASA revealed that the launch window for the mission opens on May 31 and extends to June 22 from the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. Meanwhile, Rocket Lab revealed in a mission update that the CubeSat that was shipped from California a few days ago has arrived at the launch site. Besides, the teams have also completed launch rehearsals with the Electron rocket and the next step is payload integration. 

This NASA mission stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment and the agency says that it will help astronauts get to the moon and beyond. Tap here to learn all about the CAPSTONE mission. Notably, the Electron rocket to be used for the launch stands just 59 feet tall, making it the smallest rocket to attempt a launch to the Moon.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck said in a statement, "CAPSTONE’s arrival at Launch Complex 1 marks a major milestone in this historic mission. We’re excited to move into the final integration and test phase ahead of launch day."

Electron rocket's mission profile

The rocket will lift off from the launch site to deploy the CubeSat in an initial LEO following which the Lunar Photon spacecraft bus will execute a ballistic lunar transfer. This ballistic lunar transfer is said to be fuel-efficient and would allow the engineers to deploy CAPSTONE to a distant orbit using a small launch vehicle. The Photon spacecraft bus, with the CAPSTONE satellite attached to it, will separate from Electron 10 minutes after the launch.

In the next step, Photon will carry out a series of orbit-raising manoeuvres, stretching its orbit into a prominent ellipse around Earth. About six days after the launch, Photon will conduct a final burn using its engine to accelerate itself to 39,428 kilometres per hour so that it escapes the low-Earth orbit. Finally, it will release CAPSTONE into Space 20 minutes after the final burn, following which the CubeSat will set out on its solo journey. NASA estimates that the CubeSat's journey to the Moon will take around four months before it begins its six-month-long journey to study the near rectilinear halo orbit (NHRO).

Image: Twitter/@RocketLab

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Published May 17th, 2022 at 19:38 IST

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