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Mission record

CAPSTONE

Also known as Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment

National Aeronautics and Space Administration · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

A 25 kg spacecraft sent to fly and prove the near-rectilinear halo orbit intended for a future crewed lunar outpost.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Electron
Launch site
Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Countries
United States
Mission types
Orbiter, Technology demonstrator

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    CAPSTONE launched on a Rocket Lab Electron from Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

  2. Deployment

    CAPSTONE separated from Lunar Photon

  3. Milestone

    A partially open thruster valve set the spacecraft tumbling and it entered safe mode

  4. Orbit insertion

    CAPSTONE inserted itself into the near-rectilinear halo orbit

    Moon

  5. Mission end

    NASA concluded its CAPSTONE extended mission

    NASA participation ended; this does not establish physical destruction or the end of private spacecraft operations.

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Lunar Photon · Spacecraft · Transported CAPSTONE until July4 2022 07:18UTC; independent post-release navigation not acquired.

    Destinations: Moon

    • CAPSTONE · Orbiter · NASA extended mission completed June2026; continued privately owned spacecraft operations are not excluded.

      Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Time-dependent navigation trajectory

Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.

J2000 · Sun-centered display · positions interpolated between source states

Coverage: June 28, 2022 to August 14, 2026

Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.

  • CAPSTONE: Estimated · June 28, 2022 to August 14, 2026

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 14, 2026