capstone_spacecraft.jpg Photo of the CAPSTONE spacecraft with solar panels deployed on a workbench at Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., in Irvine, California. Credits: Dominic Hart

NASA will host a media teleconference with partners Advanced Space and Rocket Lab at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 25, in advance of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) launch, scheduled for no earlier than Tuesday, May 31. The teleconference audio will be livestreamed on NASA TV.

Participants will discuss and answer questions about CAPSTONE launch preparations, its technology demonstrations, and how CAPSTONE will serve as a pathfinder for Gateway and future Artemis missions.  

The teleconference participants include:

• Christopher Baker, Small Spacecraft Technology program executive, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate
• Bradley Cheetham, Advanced Space CEO/principal investigator, CAPSTONE
• Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO
• Nujoud Merancy, chief, Exploration Mission Planning Office, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

To participate by phone, media must RSVP at least two hours prior to the start of the call by emailing: gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov.

The microwave oven-size CubeSat will serve as the first spacecraft to test a unique lunar orbit that has never been flown before. The orbit, formally known as a near rectilinear halo orbit, is an elongated orbit located at a precise balance point between the gravities of Earth and the Moon. CAPSTONE will help reduce risk of future long-term deep space missions – like the Moon-orbiting outpost Gateway – by validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this orbit. 

For more information about CAPSTONE, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/3PteW7P

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