The mission builds on the original CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, which became the first U.S. commercial mission to the Moon and the first spacecraft to operate in a near-rectilinear halo orbit, a nearly stable orbit maintained by the gravitational pull of both the Earth and the Moon. The original mission validated communications, networking, and autonomous navigation while gathering operational experience in cislunar space. CAPSTONE 02 transitions from orbit validation to demonstrations intended to inform future lunar exploration and infrastructure.
CAPSTONE 02 will fly two identical spacecraft of approximately 400 kilograms, or 882 pounds, from Terran Orbital Systems, Inc. Mission operators will conduct rendezvous and proximity operations along with loitering, or formation flying, techniques in lunar orbit to better understand spacecraft trajectories under the simultaneous influence of Earth and Moon gravity, known as three-body orbits. The mission will use ground tracking measurements, optical sensors, and celestial bodies to help one spacecraft locate and rendezvous with another, applying navigation strategies similar to those planned for Orion’s approach to a lunar lander. Each spacecraft can switch between chaser and target roles to test a range of operational scenarios.
The mission will also serve as an operational testbed for three NASA-developed navigation software suites, which will collect data during a low energy transfer trajectory that carries the spacecraft from Earth to beyond the Moon before settling into lunar orbit. The spacecraft will carry an optical imaging payload from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to support navigation and capture imagery of the Moon. The mission will further mature the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System software first demonstrated on the original CAPSTONE, a method of determining spacecraft position relative to other spacecraft without relying on Earth-based tracking.
Christopher Baker, lead of the In-Space Infrastructure portfolio within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate, said achieving the agency’s most ambitious exploration goals requires iterative, risk-tolerant demonstrations in partnership with industry. Sean Fuller, Moon Base CAPSTONE manager, said the mission represents an important step in the maturation of cislunar capabilities. By expanding on lessons learned from CAPSTONE to demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operational concepts, he said, CAPSTONE 02 lays the foundation for lunar infrastructure and commercial services that support Artemis, Moon Base, and future deep space missions. The technologies are designed to automate routine navigation tasks, reduce reliance on space-to-ground data, and enable new mission concepts through inter-satellite coordination.
The CAPSTONE 02 mission is funded by NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate with support from the Research and Technology Mission Directorate. It is managed by Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems, based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, and was funded through a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III contract. Launch is targeted for 2027, when the two spacecraft will begin their rendezvous and proximity operations demonstrations in lunar orbit.
