Rocket LabElectronRocket Lab Launch Complex 1B, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
CAPSTONE
Launched
June 28, 2022
Image: Rocket Lab
Summary
CAPSTONE launched on a Rocket Lab Electron from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand on June 28, 2022. It was Rocket Lab's 27th launch, 4th this year and humanity's 6,255th orbital launch attempt. It was the 27th Electron flight and the 4th this year. Booster 27 flew for the 1st time and was expended. The payload was bound for Lunar Orbit (LO). CAPSTONE, one of 3 catalogued objects, reached a 176 × 1,052 km orbit inclined 39.1°. 3 objects from this launch are catalogued, 2 of them payloads.
- Vehicle
- Electron · Rocket Lab
- Booster
- 27 · flight 1 · expendable4/6 landed here
- Mission
- Planetary Science · Lunar Orbit (LO)for NASA
- Milestone
- 27th Electron flight · 4th this yearRocket Lab's 27th launch4th this yearhumanity's 6,255th orbital launch attempt73rd orbital launch attempt this year
Webcast
Flight preview
Simulate in Flight ClubOrbit: as tracked
CAPSTONE · NORAD 52914 · 2022-070 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 3 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2022-070A
- Epoch
- 2022-06-28 10:54:41 UTC
- Mean motion
- 14.87132892 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.062683
- Inclination
- 39.118°
- Ascending node
- 333.2076°
- Arg. of perigee
- 329.6074°
- Mean anomaly
- 145.7933°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 0
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.
Catalogued objects
3 catalogued: 2 payloads, 1 rocket stage
- CAPSTONE · NORAD 52914 · left Earth orbit July 4, 2022
- Lunar Photon · NORAD 52916 · left Earth orbit July 4, 2022
Electron 27 Stage 2 · re-entered June 28, 2022
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a 12-U cubesat mission to test operations in near rectiliniar halo orbit around the Moon, which is to be used for the Lunar Gateway space station. Mission will verify the near rectilinear halo orbit characteristics, spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation services in that orbit, and provide valuable experience of small sat launch to the Moon.
News
NASA selects successor to CAPSTONE lunar missionNASA has selected Advanced Space to fly a successor to a cislunar smallsat mission that will test rendezvous and proximity operations around the moon.
NASA’s CAPSTONE Completes Extended Mission Testing Lunar TechnologiesAs NASA prepares for a sustained human presence on the Moon, missions will increasingly require spacecraft that can navigate and communicate without a direct connection to Earth. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, validated and advanced these capabilities. Designed to test and validate technologies in lunar orbit, CAPSTONE launched […]
Pad
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
2nd launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B, 2nd this year · 27th from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
41 launches from this pad · 84 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
119 days after the previous launch from this pad
All launches from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New ZealandOpen in maps
Updates
Successful Electron launch. Photon's HyperCurie engine will perform apogee raising burns around every 24 hours for five days, before a final burn on the sixth day to set CAPSTONE on a trans lunar injection
Show 9 earlier updates
Liftoff
Nosu · 6/28/2022 · source
Webcast live
Nosu · 6/28/2022 · source
Weather 75%
Jay · 6/28/2022 · source
Adjusting T-0
Jay · 6/27/2022 · source
NET June 28
Cosmic_Penguin · 6/26/2022 · source
Updating T-0
Nosu · 6/24/2022 · source
NET June 27
Cosmic_Penguin · 6/23/2022 · source
Adding T-0 and setting GO
Nosu · 6/16/2022 · source
NET June 25
Nosu · 6/8/2022 · source
Questions
When did CAPSTONE launch?
CAPSTONE launched on June 28, 2022. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch CAPSTONE?
Coverage: CAPSTONE Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast). Watch the replay
What rocket launched CAPSTONE?
Electron, flown by Rocket Lab. Electron spec sheet
Where did CAPSTONE launch from?
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand.
Did the booster land?
Booster 27 flew for the 1st time and was expended.
What orbit did CAPSTONE reach?
CAPSTONE, one of 3 catalogued objects, reached a 176 × 1,052 km orbit inclined 39.1°.
How many satellites did CAPSTONE launch?
2 payloads from this launch are catalogued (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).