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CAPSTONE

CAPSTONE, formally known as the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is a small CubeSat spacecraft mission developed by NASA to demonstrate innovative navigation technologies and validate orbital dynamics in cislunar space as a precursor to the Artemis program's Lunar Gateway station.^[1] Launched on June 28, 2022, aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand, CAPSTONE traveled approximately 1.5 million kilometers via a ballistic lunar transfer before entering a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon on November 14, 2022.^[1] This highly elliptical orbit, ranging from about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) at its closest perigee to the lunar surface to 43,500 miles (70,000 km) at apogee, mirrors the planned trajectory for the Gateway, NASA's forthcoming lunar orbital outpost.^[1] The mission's primary objectives include testing the stability and predictability of the NRHO over six months, confirming propulsion maneuvers for station-keeping, and evaluating the performance of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS), a novel software suite that enables spacecraft to determine their positions relative to other assets without reliance on Earth-based tracking.^[1] Built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems (a Terran Orbital company) under a rapid six-month development contract, CAPSTONE measures roughly 12U in size (about 14 inches or 36 cm cubed) and incorporates a cold-gas propulsion system for orbit insertion and maintenance, along with star trackers, reaction wheels, and solar panels for power.^[1] Its secondary goals encompass gathering data on radiation environment, thermal conditions, and communication delays in the NRHO to inform future deep-space operations.^[1] The primary mission phase concluded successfully on May 18, 2023, after validating key orbital models and CAPS functionality through interactions with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).^[1] As of November 2025, the mission has been extended through December 2025, allowing continued data collection on long-term NRHO behavior, further refinement of autonomous navigation algorithms, and support for Artemis IV planning, including potential integration with the Orion spacecraft.^[1] Notable achievements include the first demonstration of CAPS-enabled ranging in cislunar space, which achieved sub-kilometer accuracy, and contributions to simulation models that reduce operational risks for Gateway assembly and resupply missions.^[1] Overall, CAPSTONE represents a low-cost, high-impact pathfinder that advances NASA's capabilities for sustainable human presence beyond low Earth orbit.^[1]

Overview

Mission Objectives

The CAPSTONE mission, formally known as the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, serves as a pathfinder for NASA's Artemis program by testing key technologies for future lunar operations.^[1] Its core objectives include verifying the dynamics of a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), demonstrating the feasibility of entering and maintaining such an orbit via ballistic lunar transfer, and evaluating the performance of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components in deep space environments.^[1] These goals aim to inform the design and operations of the Lunar Gateway station, which will utilize a similar NRHO.^[2] A primary focus is the testing of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS), an onboard software suite that enables relative navigation between spacecraft using radio crosslinks.^[1] CAPS uses NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) as a reference target to perform autonomous orbit determination, relying on range and Doppler measurements from radio signals rather than ground-based tracking from Earth.^[1] The system targets sub-kilometer positioning accuracy (3σ) in cislunar space, allowing spacecraft to independently estimate their position and velocity for safe rendezvous and formation flying.^[3] The mission's primary phase, lasting six months from orbital insertion and concluding successfully in May 2023, encompassed these objectives to build operational experience in complex cislunar regimes and validate NRHO stability models for extended human presence at the Moon.^[1] By demonstrating COTS hardware reliability—such as standard CubeSat bus components—under deep space conditions, CAPSTONE reduces risks and costs for subsequent small spacecraft missions.^[4]

Historical Context and Significance

The CAPSTONE mission, formally known as the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, was developed as a pathfinder initiative within NASA's Artemis program to validate key orbital and navigation technologies for future lunar exploration. Announced on September 13, 2019, NASA awarded a $13.7 million contract to Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado, under a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract managed by the agency's Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program.^[5] Advanced Space served as the principal investigator, led by CEO Bradley Cheetham, with the mission designed to support the construction and operations of the Lunar Gateway, a planned space station in near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon.^[5] This development addressed the need for cost-effective precursors to larger Artemis elements, leveraging small satellite capabilities to de-risk complex cislunar maneuvers ahead of human missions.^[1] CAPSTONE's primary historical significance lies in its role as the first U.S. spacecraft to demonstrate operations in NRHO, a dynamically stable orbit that ranges from approximately 1,000 to 43,500 miles above the lunar poles, offering energy-efficient access to the lunar surface and Earth.^[1] Selected under NASA's SST program, the mission pioneered this orbit type for the Gateway, which will serve as a staging point for sustainable lunar activities under Artemis, enabling extended human presence and scientific research without frequent Earth resupply.^[6] By achieving NRHO insertion on November 13, 2022, CAPSTONE verified the orbit's stability and predictability, paving the way for reliable cislunar infrastructure that supports international partnerships and commercial ventures in the region.^[1] The mission's cost-effective CubeSat approach, executed for approximately $24 million via a dedicated small launch and commercial off-the-shelf components, contrasted sharply with traditional deep-space missions costing hundreds of millions, demonstrating the viability of small spacecraft for high-impact lunar testing.^[5]^[7] Beyond orbital validation, CAPSTONE addressed critical navigation challenges in cislunar space, where traditional GPS signals are unavailable due to distance and weak propagation, by testing autonomous positioning via peer-to-peer ranging with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.^[1] This innovation, which achieved sub-kilometer accuracy in its first demonstration, fosters future fleets of autonomous spacecraft, enhancing safety and efficiency for Artemis-era operations and enabling scalable, low-latency communication networks across the Earth-Moon system.^[1] As of November 2025, the mission has been extended through December 2025 for continued data collection on long-term NRHO behavior.^[1]

Development and Design

Spacecraft Specifications

The CAPSTONE spacecraft is a 12-unit (12U) CubeSat measuring approximately 34 cm × 34 cm × 64 cm, with a total mass of about 25 kg (55 pounds).^[8]^[1] Built by Terran Orbital on a commercial satellite bus, it adopts a microwave-oven-sized form factor suitable for low-cost lunar pathfinder missions.^[9] The power system relies on body-mounted solar arrays to generate electricity, supplemented by lithium-ion batteries for operations during eclipse periods or low-light conditions.^[8] These panels provide the necessary energy for the spacecraft's subsystems throughout its cislunar journey and orbital phase.^[9] Propulsion is handled by a monopropellant hydrazine reaction control system developed by Stellar Exploration Inc., integrated with a propellant pump from Flight Works.^[10]^[11] The system features eight 0.25 N thrusters—four for translational maneuvers and attitude control, and four dedicated to attitude control and momentum desaturation—delivering a total delta-V capability exceeding 200 m/s from a 3.2 kg hydrazine propellant load stored in a machined aluminum tank.^[8]^[10] Communication capabilities include an X-band transponder for two-way data relay and ranging with ground stations via NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN).^[8]^[9] Complementing this, an S-band patch array antenna enables radiometric measurements and navigation signal exchange with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).^[8]^[12] Avionics incorporate commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components with radiation tolerance for the cislunar environment, including redundant primary flight computer boards and a dedicated payload flight computer for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS).^[9]^[8] Attitude determination and control utilize reaction wheels for precise pointing, routinely desaturated via thrusters, along with a commercial CMOS imager for navigation support.^[9] The CAPS software runs on its dedicated hardware to facilitate autonomous positioning relative to LRO.^[10]

Key Technologies

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) represents a cornerstone technology of the CAPSTONE mission, providing software for delay-tolerant networking and relative navigation in cislunar space. Developed by Advanced Space, CAPS utilizes radio frequency (RF) signals exchanged with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to enable peer-to-peer positioning between spacecraft, allowing real-time estimation of absolute position and velocity without constant ground support.^[13] This system processes crosslink ranging data onboard, fostering an autonomous navigation framework that supports future multi-spacecraft operations around the Moon.^[1] By demonstrating CAPS, CAPSTONE validates a scalable approach to cislunar positioning, akin to GPS but adapted for deep-space delays and limited infrastructure.^[2] Complementing CAPS, Advanced Space contributed additional navigation software for independent orbital state estimation, including the Neural Networks for Easy Planning (NNEP) system, which employs neural networks to autonomously generate maneuver plans, and Sigma Zero, a neural network-based tool for anomaly detection and classification to minimize human intervention in orbit determination.^[14] These tools enable the CubeSat to maintain its near-rectilinear halo orbit with reduced reliance on Earth-based commands, enhancing resilience in environments with high communication latency.^[15] Together, they form an integrated autonomy suite that processes sensor data and RF inputs to achieve precise state updates, prioritizing operational efficiency for extended missions.^[16] In 2025, NASA and Advanced Space announced plans for the mission to incorporate a new suite of experiments to address identified technology shortfalls in cislunar operations, focusing on advanced autonomy demonstrations alongside refinements to navigation and interoperable communications protocols.^[17] These additions build on CAPS and related software by testing enhanced onboard decision-making capabilities, such as automated response to environmental perturbations, to elevate technology readiness levels for Artemis-era exploration.^[1] The experiments leverage the spacecraft's existing payload computer to simulate real-time adaptations, providing data critical for de-risking future lunar and deep-space architectures.^[2] Integrating these experimental systems into the 12U CubeSat bus presented significant challenges, particularly in mitigating deep-space radiation and thermal extremes. The spacecraft endured a total ionizing dose (TID) of approximately 8.7 krad behind 6 mm aluminum shielding, necessitating robust component hardening against galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events absent Earth's protective magnetosphere.^[18] Thermal management was equally demanding, with persistent "always hot" conditions from lunar infrared emission and solar flux requiring optimized dissipation strategies to prevent overheating during prolonged eclipses and maneuvers.^[18] These adaptations ensured the bus's compatibility with the software payloads while maintaining structural integrity in the irregular lunar gravity field.

Launch and Trajectory

Launch Details

The CAPSTONE mission launched on June 28, 2022, at 5:55 a.m. EDT (3:55 a.m. MDT) from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand.^[19]^[4] The launch vehicle was Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, with CAPSTONE serving as the primary payload integrated atop the company's Lunar Photon interplanetary spacecraft bus.^[19]^[20] Prior to launch, the CubeSat underwent final integration and environmental testing at Rocket Lab's facility in Long Beach, California, including vibration, thermal vacuum, and electromagnetic compatibility checks, all under NASA oversight to ensure mission readiness.^[20]^[21] Health checks confirmed nominal performance of the spacecraft's systems, including its propulsion, communications, and power subsystems.^[22] CAPSTONE was deployed from the Photon stage into a ballistic lunar transfer orbit on July 4, 2022, after approximately six days of orbit-raising maneuvers by the bus.^[23] Initial contact with ground stations was established shortly after deployment, allowing teams to verify solar array extension and battery charging.^[24] Following deployment, the spacecraft initiated its ballistic lunar transfer trajectory toward the Moon.^[23]

Ballistic Lunar Transfer and Insertion

The CAPSTONE mission employed a ballistic lunar transfer (BLT), a low-energy trajectory that leverages the gravitational influences of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun to efficiently propel the spacecraft from near-Earth space to the lunar vicinity without requiring continuous propulsion.^[25] This sinuous path, which follows dynamic gravitational contours in deep space, allowed CAPSTONE to reach a maximum distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth during its transit, conserving fuel compared to traditional high-energy transfers.^[26] The journey lasted about 4.3 months, from deployment on July 4, 2022, to arrival at the Moon, enabling the CubeSat to traverse cislunar space while minimizing delta-V requirements to around 52 meters per second nominally for the transfer phase.^[25]^[27] During the BLT, CAPSTONE executed a series of trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs) using its onboard thrusters to refine its path and account for launch dispersions, with the first such burn occurring shortly after deployment and additional statistical maneuvers totaling up to 57 meters per second in the 99th percentile case.^[28] These corrections relied on the spacecraft's cislunar autonomous positioning system (CAPS), which enabled onboard navigation and decision-making to maintain trajectory accuracy amid limited ground communication opportunities due to the mission's deep-space profile and Deep Space Network scheduling constraints.^[29] Upon reaching the Moon, the spacecraft performed its NRHO insertion on November 13, 2022, via a two-burn sequence at the first perilune passage, delivering a delta-V of approximately 18 meters per second nominally to capture into the target orbit, followed by cleanup burns near apolune to circularize and stabilize the trajectory.^[30]^[27] The resulting near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) has a period of approximately one week, with a perigee altitude of about 1,600 kilometers above the lunar north pole—where the spacecraft travels at its highest speed—and an apogee of roughly 70,000 kilometers over the south pole, at which point it moves more slowly relative to the lunar surface.^[31] This highly elliptical orbit, resonant at a 9:2 ratio with the Moon's synodic period, was selected for its long-term stability, requiring minimal station-keeping delta-V (nominally 0 meters per second over six months but up to 1 meter per second statistically), making it suitable for extended operations like those planned for the Lunar Gateway.^[32]^[27] CAPSTONE's successful demonstration of NRHO dynamics, including perturbation effects from Earth and solar gravity, validated the orbit's viability for future human-rated missions by confirming its predicted stability over multi-year timescales.^[33]

Mission Operations

Primary Mission Phase

The primary mission phase of the CAPSTONE mission commenced on November 13, 2022, following the spacecraft's successful insertion into a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon, and lasted six months until May 18, 2023.^[33]^[34] During this period, the CubeSat, weighing approximately 55 pounds, focused on validating key technologies for future cislunar operations, including orbit stability and autonomous navigation systems tailored for the Lunar Gateway.^[1] The commissioning phase immediately post-insertion involved comprehensive system checkouts to verify spacecraft health, power systems, propulsion functionality, and initial tests of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS), which enables GPS-like positioning without ground-based infrastructure.^[33] Operations during the primary phase emphasized routine maintenance and data acquisition to assess NRHO performance. Thruster firings were executed using the spacecraft's cold gas propulsion system for station-keeping maneuvers, ensuring the orbit remained stable against perturbations from Earth's gravity and solar radiation pressure.^[35] Concurrently, the mission collected telemetry on orbit dynamics, including positional accuracy and energy levels, to confirm simulations for Gateway's planned trajectory. Ground interactions were facilitated through NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN), which relayed commands from mission control at Advanced Space LLC and returned science data for real-time analysis.^[33]^[4] Key milestones marked progressive technological demonstrations. In July 2022, during the cruise phase, a communications subsystem anomaly delayed maneuvers but was resolved by the operations team. In September 2022, CAPSTONE experienced a loss of attitude control due to a thruster valve issue, which was addressed through recovery procedures including software uploads, restoring control by October 2022.^[36]^[37]^[38] In February 2023, initial crosslink tests with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) were conducted, establishing a baseline for inter-spacecraft ranging essential to CAPS functionality. By May 2023, the spacecraft demonstrated full CAPS capabilities, including successful two-way ranging with LRO on May 9, independently determining its position in cislunar space using onboard algorithms and LRO crosslinks.^[39]^[34] These efforts culminated in the successful completion of primary objectives by May 2023, paving the way for extended testing.^[34]

Extended Operations

Following the successful completion of its primary six-month mission phase in May 2023, NASA approved an enhanced mission extension for CAPSTONE, allowing the spacecraft to continue operations in its near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) to gather additional data on orbital dynamics and navigation technologies.^[1] This initial extension built directly on the primary objectives, transitioning seamlessly to support ongoing characterization of the NRHO environment critical for future Artemis program elements like the Lunar Gateway.^[35] In October 2024, NASA further extended the mission through December 2025, providing funding for approximately 15 additional months of operations managed by Advanced Space.^[40] This phase emphasizes refined testing of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS), including two-way ranging with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and one-way ranging with NASA's Deep Space Network, to enhance autonomy and communication interoperability in cislunar space.^[1] During this extended period, CAPSTONE has hosted new onboard experiments announced in April 2025, targeted at addressing key technology gaps for cislunar operations, such as advanced spacecraft autonomy, precise navigation using optical measurements, and standards-based communications protocols.^[17] These activities have enabled the spacecraft to serve as a testbed for interoperable systems, demonstrating how small satellites can support larger mission architectures without extensive ground intervention.^[1] As of November 2025, CAPSTONE remains fully operational in its NRHO, actively collecting data on long-term orbital perturbations influenced by gravitational interactions between Earth, the Moon, and solar radiation pressure.^[1] This ongoing monitoring provides essential insights into orbit stability over multi-year timescales, informing trajectory designs for sustained human presence in cislunar space. The mission marked its three-year anniversary in July 2025, celebrating achievements in lunar navigation and autonomy that have exceeded initial expectations for resilience and data yield.^[41] The mission is scheduled to conclude in December 2025, after which end-of-life operations will transition to a passive mode, allowing natural orbital decay in the stable NRHO without active deorbit maneuvers.^[1]

Achievements and Impact

Technical Demonstrations and Results

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) on CAPSTONE achieved navigation accuracy of approximately 50 meters during its operational phase, enabling precise orbit determination without constant reliance on ground-based tracking. This performance was validated through crosslink ranging data exchanged with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), where measurements confirmed CAPSTONE's position relative to LRO within the targeted precision thresholds.^[9]^[42] In the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), CAPSTONE confirmed long-term stability spanning multiple years with minimal station-keeping corrections, requiring only periodic orbit maintenance maneuvers (OMMs) totaling less than 5 cm/s delta-V per event. The mission also measured gravitational perturbations induced by lunar mascons, providing empirical data that aligned with pre-mission simulations and highlighted the orbit's resilience to such disturbances. These results validated the NRHO as a viable trajectory for sustained cislunar operations, with over 167 revolutions completed successfully as of November 2025.^[43]^[44]^[10] By the end of its primary mission in 2023, CAPSTONE achieved 100% success in demonstrating all core objectives, including CAPS functionality and NRHO insertion. The extended operations, continuing through December 2025 following an announcement in October 2024, yielded additional datasets on radiation effects in the cislunar environment and communications reliability, with the spacecraft enduring approximately 1,100 days of lunar operations while maintaining system integrity.^[1]^[45]^[46] Quantitative outcomes underscored the mission's efficiency, with the monopropellant thruster system utilizing less than its full delta-V budget across numerous maneuvers. Data downlink rates averaged 2 kbps via the X-band system to NASA's Deep Space Network, sufficient for transmitting navigation and telemetry data during ground passes.^[9]^[10]^[47]

Contributions to Future Missions

CAPSTONE's operational data from the near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) has directly informed the design and operational planning for NASA's Lunar Gateway station, validating the orbit's stability and low-energy maintenance requirements for sustained human presence in cislunar space.^[19]^[8]^[4] The mission's successful execution of weekly station-keeping maneuvers using minimal propellant demonstrated the feasibility of NRHO for long-duration operations, providing critical insights that reduce risks for Gateway's integration into the Artemis program.^[45]^[41] The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) navigation technology, proven through crosslinks with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, offers transferable capabilities for human-rated systems by enabling precise, peer-to-peer ranging without constant ground support.^[1]^[34] This advancement supports Artemis crewed missions by enhancing autonomy in communication-constrained environments, paving the way for reliable positioning in future lunar landings and surface operations.^[4]^[48] Beyond Artemis, CAPSTONE's demonstrations have fostered a commercial cislunar economy by minimizing dependence on Earth-based tracking networks through onboard navigation, allowing smaller spacecraft to operate independently and at lower costs.^[29]^[49] As the first privately owned satellite to reach and operate at the Moon, it sets precedents for commercial ventures in lunar orbits, influencing missions like Lunar Trailblazer by validating efficient ballistic transfers and autonomous operations for resource-mapping smallsats.^[50]^[1] NASA has issued several reports on CAPSTONE between 2023 and 2025, detailing navigation performance, orbit insertion successes, and extended operations, which serve as references for cislunar mission planning.^[51]^[48]^[1] The mission received recognition for its autonomy advancements, including a NASA Group Achievement Award in 2023 and celebration of its three-year milestone in 2025 for pioneering lunar navigation technologies.^[41]^[52] Lessons from CAPSTONE highlight significant cost savings via the CubeSat model, with its rapid development—from contract award in 2019 to launch in 2022—achieved under $20 million, demonstrating scalable approaches for future deep-space smallsats.^[53]^[4] The mission's resilience in the cislunar radiation environment has led to recommendations for enhanced hardening of commercial off-the-shelf components in smallsats, emphasizing selective shielding and fault-tolerant designs to mitigate single-event effects during extended lunar operations.^[39]^[15]

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Aug 12, 2022 · Advanced Space LLC receives the Mission of the Year award for the CAPSTONE mission ... The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology ...
[49]
[PDF] CAPSTONE: A CubeSat Pathfinder for the Lunar Gateway Ecosystem
The X-Band system will be used to communicate with the ground, while the S-Band system will perform radiometric measurements with LRO to gather data for the ...
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CAPSTONE to Test Technologies After Recovery from ... - NASA
Feb 8, 2023 · The CAPSTONE team, led by Advanced Space, is now preparing for continued testing of the spacecraft's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, or ...