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Rocket Lab Launches NASA Capstone Mission to Unique Lunar Orbit

Rocket Lab Launches NASA Capstone Mission to Unique Lunar Orbit
Photon Lunar spacecraft bus being prepared for NASA’s CAPSTONE mission. Photo: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab launched the CAPSTONE mission for NASA early Tuesday morning, sending the spacecraft on a journey to a unique lunar orbit. CAPSTONE — Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment — is part of NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the Moon. The spacecraft is heading toward the orbit intended for the future lunar space station, Gateway. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched the mission at 5:55 a.m. EDT (09:55 UTC) on Tuesday from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Tyvak…

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