CAPSTONE ENTERS NRHO LUNAR ORBIT, Nov 13, 2022, the Moon

The CAPSTONE spacecraft, owned by Advanced Space in Westminter, CO on behalf of NASA, is expected to enter orbit around the Moon on November 13, 2022.  It is a pathfinder for NASA for using a highly elliptical Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) for the Lunar Gateway space station NASA is planning to use as part of its Artemis program.

CAPSTONE, designed and built by Terran Orbital, is a 55-pound cubesat that has encoutered a few problems since launch on June 28, but appears to be OK as of November 6.

Advanced Space and Terran Orbital operate it jointly.