NASA Announces CAPSTONE 02 Mission to Advance Lunar Exploration Technology

• NASA has announced the CAPSTONE 02 mission, slated for a 2027 launch, to advance cislunar infrastructure and exploration technologies for the Artemis program.
• The mission will utilize two identical 400kg spacecraft from Terran Orbital to demonstrate autonomous navigation, rendezvous, and proximity operations in lunar orbit.
• These operations are critical for enabling future crew transfers between lunar landers and Orion spacecraft.

Mission Objectives

• Test rendezvous and formation flying in three-body orbits, accounting for the complex gravitational influences of both Earth and the Moon.
• Implement 'chaser' and 'target' role-switching between the two spacecraft to test varied operational scenarios.
• Characterize the lunar radiation environment.
• Mature the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) software to reduce reliance on Earth-based tracking.

Technology and Operations

• The spacecraft will carry optical imaging payloads from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
• The mission serves as an operational testbed for three NASA-developed navigation software suites during a low-energy transfer trajectory.
• CAPSTONE 02 builds on the success of the original CAPSTONE mission, which validated near rectilinear halo orbit operations.

Management and Funding

• Advanced Space holds the primary contract for the mission.
• Oversight is provided by NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems group at Ames Research Center.
• Funding is sourced from the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate and the Research and Technology Mission Directorate, utilizing a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III contract.