Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions company, announced that their Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission has successfully operated on-orbit around the Moon for a full year. This milestone puts the company in an elite category logging over 365 days of continuous operations in the cislunar environment. As the first company to operate a commercial satellite at the Moon, Advanced Space has gained valuable insights around cislunar operations that can only come from hands-on experience.
Over the course of the year, CAPSTONE has maintained its unique Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) gathering data to inform future operations of the lunar Gateway space station in support of NASA’s Artemis program. The CAPSTONE mission has also demonstrated a novel spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology called the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) and explored incorporating one-way uplink measurements through an onboard Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC), the first ever flown at the Moon.
“Our experience at the Moon has provided tremendous insights and lessons learned that will be invaluable as we continue to build the infrastructure that will support current and future lunar activity. I want to thank our incredible team for their dedication as they worked through challenges and implemented solutions real-time to get us here today” said Advanced Space CEO and President Bradley Cheetham. “We are also grateful for the support of NASA and our partners throughout this historic journey.”
Advanced Space is currently undergoing an Enhanced Mission Phase for its primary customer, NASA, and with around 50% of its fuel remaining the company is engaging with customers and the community for additional on-orbit experiments to be performed using the existing on-board flight computer and surplus fuel.
“Space exploration deepens our understanding of planet Earth, the moon, and what lies beyond. Colorado’s aerospace economy and Advanced Space are spearheading American innovation to help us maintain our leadership in space,” said U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper.
SOURCE: PRNewswire