NASA Unveils New Moon Tech Demo Mission

NASA is working with industry to advance the next phase of cislunar infrastructure for the agency's Artemis program and Moon Base, including orbital assets and demonstrations. Under a contract awarded to Advanced Space, the agency's CAPSTONE 02 mission will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations, autonomous navigation, and cislunar communication capabilities while continuing to characterize the radiation environment at the Moon.

The CAPSTONE 02 mission, targeted for launch in 2027, will use two small spacecraft in lunar orbit to facilitate these demonstrations to support future NASA lunar and deep space missions.

NASA's original CAPSTONE demonstration, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, became the first U.S. commercial mission to the Moon and the first spacecraft to operate in a near rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. This is a nearly stable orbit, thanks to the interactive pull of gravity from both the Earth and the Moon.

The mission successfully validated communications, networking, and autonomous navigation capabilities while gathering operational experience in cislunar space. The second CAPSTONE mission expands upon these accomplishments by transitioning from orbit validation to demonstrations that will inform future lunar exploration and infrastructure development.