CAPSTONE

Following a three-month trip to the Moon, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) will enter a near rectilinear halo orbit, which is a highly elliptical orbit over the Moon’s poles, to verify its characteristics for future missions and conduct a navigation demonstration with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. CAPSTONE will serve as a pathfinder for the lunar spaceship Gateway, a key component of NASA’s Artemis program.