Rocket Lab wins contract for lunar cubesat launch
Posted: Sat, Feb 22, 2020, 8:14 AM ET (1314 GMT)
Rocket Lab has won a NASA contract for the launch of a cubesat mission to the moon. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) satellite from Virginia in early 2021. The contract is valued at $9.95 million. On that launch, Rocket Lab's Photon satellite bus will serve as a kick stage, placing CAPSTONE on a trajectory to the moon. CAPSTONE will then use its own propulsion to maneuver into a near-rectilinear halo orbit, the same orbit that the lunar Gateway will use.
Rocket Lab has won a NASA contract for the launch of a cubesat mission to the moon. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket will launch NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) satellite from Virginia in early 2021. The contract is valued at $9.95 million. On that launch, Rocket Lab's Photon satellite bus will serve as a kick stage, placing CAPSTONE on a trajectory to the moon. CAPSTONE will then use its own propulsion to maneuver into a near-rectilinear halo orbit, the same orbit that the lunar Gateway will use.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, March 16
Hanwha Acquires KAI Stake After 7 Years, Accelerating 'Korean SpaceX' Ambitions
Seoul Economic Daily — 6:28 am ET (1028 GMT) Sweden's first astronaut urges Filipino students to pursue STEM careers
Manila Bulletin — 6:27 am ET (1027 GMT) NavIC satellite loses its atomic clock: What this means for India’s bid for its own GPS
Indian Express — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) Isro's NavIC is down: What is an atomic clock that has put India's desi GPS in danger
India Today — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) ISRO's NavIC Satellite IRNSS-1F Suffers Atomic Clock Failure After Completing 10-Year Mission
NDTV.com — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) |
