Advanced Space CEO Bradley Cheetham visits Morehead State University’s Space Science Director and Congressional Staff to Discuss Future

Advanced Space CEO Bradley Cheetham visits Morehead State University’s Space Science Director and Congressional Staff to Discuss Future

Advanced Space’s CEO Bradley Cheetham paid a visit to Morehead State University (MSU) in Kentucky today. Cheetham toured the Space Science Center, along with staff members for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Congressman Hal Rogers. While there, the group discussed the successful Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE™) mission, along with potential future collaborations with MSU.

The addition of the Morehead antenna has proven crucial for the mission, as NASA’s Deep Space Network has faced a lot more demand in recent years. The DSN antennas—including the 21-meter dish at Morehead State—provided over 315,000 measurements needed to track and navigate the spacecraft. Since entering its near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), CAPSTONE’s microwave-sized CubeSat has completed 28 orbits and 7 maneuvers while enduring 6 lunar eclipses with a maximum duration of 74.32 minutes. The Advanced Space Team has delivered 89 published orbit determination solutions using DSN.

The addition of the Morehead antenna has proven crucial for the mission, as NASA’s Deep Space Network has faced a lot more demand in recent years. The DSN antennas—including the 21-meter dish at Morehead State—provided over 315,000 measurements needed to track and navigate the spacecraft. Since entering its near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), CAPSTONE’s microwave-sized CubeSat has completed 28 orbits and 7 maneuvers while enduring 6 lunar eclipses with a maximum duration of 74.32 minutes. The Advanced Space Team has delivered 89 published orbit determination solutions using DSN.

CAPSTONE was the first mission to use Morehead’s tracking antenna for its operations in deep space, the facility was added to the Network in 2021. The DSN “affiliated node,” now known as Deep Space Station 17, provides telemetry, tracking, and control services for NASA and commercial space missions. Morehead’s antenna installation also helps engage university students by providing real-world space industry experience in deep-space mission operations.

Augmenting the DSN provides availability when scheduling constraints otherwise limit the network’s existing infrastructure. Similar to MSU’s augmentation of the DSN, Advanced Space’s CAPS technology will support navigation and communications relay at the Moon to support future mission growth. Advanced Space is demonstrating key technologies and learning lessons to inform these future systems to support growth of lunar operations. As the number of missions operating at the Moon increases, the need for augmentation will further increase. And while the Morehead State tracking dish supported CAPSTONE, the CAPSTONE mission also aided the Morehead State tracking dish by validating its operational performance ahead of the Artemis 1 mission launch late last year. This provided confidence for additional payload users on Artemis 1, which included a spacecraft built and managed by Morehead State.

“The addition of the MSU dish has been key to our mission,” said Cheetham. “And through it, CAPS being demonstrated on CAPSTONE will provide future missions with navigation support capabilities. Our partnership with MSU will be a critical component of future lunar navigation and communication relay systems.”

About CAPSTONE™:  CAPSTONE Press Kit

CAPSTONE™ is owned and operated by Advanced Space. It is one of the first CubeSats to fly in cislunar space – the orbital area near and around the Moon – and demonstrate an innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology. The mission launched on June 28, 2022.

Advanced Space successfully completes 6-month CAPSTONE primary mission at the Moon for NASA

Advanced Space successfully completes 6-month CAPSTONE primary mission at the Moon for NASA

Enhanced Mission to continue testing near-lunar communication and navigation technologies for months to come.

Advanced Space’s pioneering commercial satellite has completed its primary 6-month mission operating in the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) that will be utilized by the Gateway lunar space station. CAPSTONE’s enhanced mission will continue to focus on demonstrating lunar operations and navigation technology. To mark the end of the Primary Mission, Advanced Space is providing an update on the mission’s accomplishments. While the completion of the Primary Mission is a significant milestone, the CAPSTONE mission is not complete. The mission team, led by Advanced Space, is now planning and preparing to execute the “Enhanced Mission” phase, which will extend the CAPSTONE spacecraft’s time in the NRHO up to 12 months.
The CAPSTONE mission has accomplished a tremendous amount since entering the NRHO 6 months ago. CAPSTONE’s Primary Mission began after a second correction maneuver inserted the spacecraft into orbit. Since then, the microwave sized CubeSat completed 28 orbits and 7 maneuvers while enduring 6 lunar eclipses with a maximum duration of 74.32 minutes. The Advanced Space Team has delivered 89 published orbit determination solutions using more than 315,000 measurements from the Deep Space Network including the site at Morehead State University. This was a critical capacity added to DSN to support CAPSTONE which was the first mission to use Morehead for deep space operations.
In addition to testing a fuel-efficient trajectory to reach NRHO, CAPSTONE is helping NASA test future communication and navigation technologies for operating on or in the vicinity of the Moon. The spacecraft will continue to demonstrate critical technologies that will support future missions to the Moon.

CAPS – Testing for the future

CAPSTONE tested navigation technology akin to Earth’s global positioning system (GPS). This technology, CAPS, Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, was developed by Advanced Space. After working with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) team for over 2 years, Advanced Space was able to collect crosslink measurements between CAPSTONE and LRO during a recent experimental attempt on May 9th. During this experiment, the CAPSTONE spacecraft sent a navigation signal to LRO which was subsequently sent back to CAPSTONE. From the returned signal, CAPSTONE was able to compute its range and trajectory which can be used to determine the positioning of both the LRO and CAPSTONE spacecraft. This was a primary objective for the mission which sought to demonstrate its CAPS technology which provides autonomous onboard navigation. Using the gathered data, the team will look to improve subsequent crosslink demonstrations and continue to work towards demonstrating operational feasibility. In the future, additional data types will be demonstrated and incorporated into CAPS to deliver navigation knowledge to users in orbit and on the surface of the Moon.

Extended mission plans will be considered beyond this next mission phase if the spacecraft continues to weather the conditions posed by  lunar radiation and thermal environments.

Operational lessons learned – shared with NASA and infused into other upcoming missions.

The CAPSTONE mission has overcome multiple challenges on its way to the Moon and to completing its Primary Mission. These challenges have provided numerous lessons learned for the team on how to improve operations on the way to and operating at the Moon that will support future missions. Specifically, Advanced Space has briefed NASA program teams and continues to support technical interchanges so that lessons learned can be infused to support national objectives with regard to the Moon. These valuable insights have been shared with NASA Johnson Space Center and will be shared with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center next month which is fitting as Goddard is where CAPS as a technology started in 2017 as a Phase I SBIR.

Picture

The CAPSTONE spacecraft is equipped with an imager. This imager was included to support technology demonstration as well as public awareness objectives. Three in-flight imager tests have been conducted, all taking place after the start of the primary mission. Imaging activities will continue as the spacecraft’s close approaches to the lunar surface allow resolution of some features.

The image included in this post was captured on the 3rd of May 2023 at 15:11 UTC. At this time, the spacecraft was near its perilune—the spacecraft’s closest approach to the Moon—which occurs approximately above the Moon’s North pole. The center of this image is approximately located at 25° N, 85° E on the lunar surface.

What’s next

CAPSTONE’s Enhanced Mission phase will continue collecting additional crosslink measurements and one-way uplink measurements from the Earth. Continued operations also will emphasize increasing efficiency and automation by the flight dynamics system as a precursor to multi-mission support in the future. 

Award Winning Mission  – NASA and industry awards

Thank you to NASA, our mission partners, and everyone who has supported us through this journey. We are excited to have completed this important operational milestone and look forward to ongoing operations of the spacecraft at the Moon and future missions it will support.

AIAA Small Spacecracft Mission of the Year 2022

Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) Commercial Space Pioneer Award

NASA Honor Group Achievement Award

About CAPSTONE™:  CAPSTONE Press Kit

CAPSTONE™ is owned and operated by Advanced Space. It is one of the first CubeSats to fly in cislunar space – the orbital area near and around the Moon – and demonstrate an innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology. The mission launched on June 28, 2022. Critical partners in the CAPSTONE mission include:

    • NASA: CAPSTONE’s development is supported by the Space Technology Mission Directorate via the Small Spacecraft Technology and Small Business Innovation Research programs at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The Artemis Campaign Development Division within NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate supported the launch and mission operations. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida was responsible for launch management. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory supported the communication, tracking, and telemetry downlink via NASA’s Deep Space Network, Iris radio design and groundbreaking 1-way navigation algorithms.
    • Terran Orbital CorporationSpacecraft design, development and implementation, hardware manufacturing, assembly, testing and mission operations support.
    • Stellar Exploration: Propulsion subsystem provider.
    • Rocket Lab USA, Inc.: Launch provider for CAPSTONE on a three-stage Electron launch vehicle.
    • Space Dynamics Lab (SDL): Iris radio and navigation firmware provider.
    • Orion Space Solutions (formerly Astra): Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) hardware provider necessary for the 1-way ranging experiment.
    • Tethers Unlimited, Inc.: Cross Link radio provider.
    • Morehead State University (MSU): Operates the newest “affiliated node” on the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). Providing telemetry, tracking and control services for NASA and commercial space missions and to engage university students in deep space mission operations.
CAPSTONE Mission: 17 April 2023 Update

CAPSTONE Mission: 17 April 2023 Update

The CAPSTONE Mission Team has been busy continuing to operate the mission in its planned Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). Thus far, since performing the NRHO insertion maneuver on November 13th, 2022, the spacecraft has spent 154 days operating in the NRHO completing 23 NRHO revolutions. During this time, the mission team has maintained knowledge of the spacecraft state well within the mission requirements using ground-based navigation tools and tracking measurements collected by the Deep Space Network including DSS-17 which is an affiliated site at Morehead State University in Kentucky. This navigation information has continued to support the design and execution of required maneuvers to maintain the orbit. Minimum maneuver size constraints have been sequentially reduced as the combined mission operations teams at Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, and Stellar Exploration continue to mitigate issues with a thruster valve. Since entering the NRHO the spacecraft has executed six Orbit Maintenance Maneuvers (OMM) using approximately 1.8 m/s of fuel. Although the mission plan was originally to do a maneuver every NRHO (approximately once a week), the higher burn threshold has reduced the number of maneuvers performed while also demonstrating the robustness of the stationkeeping strategy utilized by the mission which is the same strategy planned for the Lunar Gateway. (more…)

CAPSTONE Mission Demonstrating Utility and Resilience at the Moon

CAPSTONE Mission Demonstrating Utility and Resilience at the Moon

The CAPSTONE spacecraft continues to operate at the Moon and the vehicle is happy and healthy. The mission has accomplished 4 mission objectives and is making progress on additional objectives. Two mission objectives were completed during the transfer to the Moon and both directly informed Artemis 1 secondary payloads with regard to radio and ground station performance. (more…)

Advanced Space Leads First Ever Commercial Mission to Operate at the Moon

Advanced Space Leads First Ever Commercial Mission to Operate at the Moon

NASA’s investment in small business boosts the economy and enables the future of space exploration.

Westminster, CO – Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, is the first commercial entity to own an operational satellite at the Moon. CAPSTONE, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, has finalized its insertion into a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). Now that history has been made, the small spacecraft is ready to begin operations for NASA in support of the Artemis program. This milestone also marks the beginning of the navigation experiment that will lay a foundation for future missions. Consistent with the company vision to enable the sustainable exploration, development, and settlement of space, Advanced Space has worked to support the Nation’s focus on returning to the Moon. CAPSTONE is tasked to understand the operational characteristics of the orbit, perform technology demonstrations to help reduce the risk for future spacecraft, and to validate innovative navigation technologies. (more…)

CAPSTONE is at the Moon! Advanced Space Leads Pathfinding Efforts for NASA

CAPSTONE is at the Moon! Advanced Space Leads Pathfinding Efforts for NASA

First spacecraft to enter the orbit for Gateway arrives to support NASA’s Artemis program.

Westminster, CO — Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, announced CAPSTONE successfully completed the initial insertion maneuver into a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) on Sunday, November 13th. Two smaller correction maneuvers will take place this week to ensure the spacecraft is confirmed into the complex lunar orbit. This NRHO is an orbit around the Moon that has never been flown before, and it is the intended orbit for the Gateway space station. NASA intends to use Gateway to support Artemis missions to the lunar surface. CAPSTONE is demonstrating how to get into this orbit; in the weeks to come, CAPSTONE will demonstrate and verify orbital operations in the NRHO for NASA. CAPSTONE is reducing risk for future spacecraft. (more…)