Rocket Lab has successfully launched NASA’s 55-pound CAPSTONE cubes that will eventually orbit the Moon if all goes according to plan. It is a small but important step in NASA’s Artemis mission that aims to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
The launch proceeded nominally according to NASA’s broadcast, reaching low Earth orbit around the “T” plus 10 minutes. An electron launch is very similar to any other, except that it is the first rocket to run electrically on batteries instead of a gas turbine. As such, there is a phase called “battery expulsion” that occurs at the end of the release cycle.
Rocket Lab used an Electron rocket with a special addition called Lunar Photon upper phase with enough power to send it into deep space. It is one of the smallest rockets to attempt to launch a payload into lunar orbit, the company said. It was launched from the Rocket Lab site in New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula and is “the highest mass and highest performance Electron has had to fly by a certain margin,” the company told TechCrunch earlier.
CAPSTONE will orbit the Earth for nine days to increase the speed sufficient for a translunar injection (TLI) that will eventually allow it to orbit the Moon. The main goal is to verify a type of highly elliptical lunar orbit called the “almost rectilinear halo” that is planned for the Gateway space station. The walkway will eventually be delivered into lunar orbit by SpaceX with a science lab and housing for astronauts, along with ports for future spacecraft.
Rocket Lab was supposed to launch CAPSTONE yesterday, but delayed it until today “to do the final system checks,” NASA tweeted. Regardless of the launch date, it is expected to reach the moon on November 13th. To watch a live broadcast, check here.