Nov 17, 2022 | National Security, Oracle Mission
The Oracle spacecraft program will enable U.S. Space Force to support future NASA missions
Westminster, CO – Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, announced that the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, as part of a collaborative effort with AFRL’s Transformational Capabilities Office, has awarded the company a $72 million contract to deliver AFRL’s Oracle spacecraft program, previously called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System, or CHPS. Oracle will demonstrate space situational awareness, object detection and tracking in the regions around the Moon. Advanced Space is the prime contractor for Oracle, and is designing the mission approach, along with advanced navigation, tracking, and communication solutions for this challenging mission. (more…)
Nov 14, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
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…)
Aug 26, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
First Ever Commercial Satellite to Fly this distance from Earth – Moon Mission for NASA continues to make history.
Westminster, CO (August 26, 2022) Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company with breakthrough navigation technology, applauds their team and mission partners as apogee is achieved for its CAPSTONE mission commissioned by NASA. Apogee, the furthest point at which the microwave-sized small satellite is from Earth, is at 1,531,949 km or 951,909 miles away from Earth at around 1:35:52 pm MT on Friday, August 26th. The dominance of the Sun’s gravitational pull has served as one of the guiding forces to allow the extreme distance of the spacecraft. This is one of the features of the ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) – the transfer method being used by CAPSTONE to reach the unique orbit around the Moon. The CAPSTONE spacecraft will now head towards the Moon. The CAPSTONE mission will test the lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), the intended orbit for Gateway, a lunar space station that will support NASA’s Artemis program. CAPSTONE has contributed insights and shared data with Artemis 1 secondary payloads that will assist them in their mission operations. (more…)
Jul 7, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
Commercially Owned Mission Supports Human Return to the Moon with Microwave-sized Spacecraft
Westminster, CO (July 7, 2022) Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, announced today that CAPSTONE – the spacecraft heading to the Moon for NASA – is healthy after successfully performing its first trajectory correction maneuver. This maneuver is a significant milestone for the mission as it represents the first of many maneuvers the spacecraft will conduct during the mission. The propulsion system is specifically optimized for precise maneuvers such as this. This maneuver is similar in size to the critical Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) Insertion Maneuver which will be conducted at the Moon on November 13th and thus serves as a test from which the team will learn to improve future operations. At time of execution, the spacecraft was approximately 465,000 km from the Earth (~13 times further than the GEO belt and ~81,000 km further than the Moon). The spacecraft had lost communications a couple of days ago, but the operations teams effectively and efficiently worked to resolve the issue and communication was restored approximately 43 hours after it was unexpectedly interrupted. The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment or CAPSTONE, began its solo journey to the Moon on July 4th as the first launch supporting Artemis missions. Advanced Space leads the CAPSTONE mission for NASA and is the first commercial and privately-owned spacecraft mission to the Moon. The microwave-sized CubeSat will verify and demonstrate operations within a unique and groundbreaking cislunar orbit that will support NASA’s Moon missions under Artemis. Further, the mission will demonstrate a novel spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology service called the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) developed and implemented by Advanced Space. (more…)
May 9, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission, Community
The CAPSTONE™ mission launching this month will test a unique orbit planned for human missions to the Moon.
Westminster, CO. (May 5, 2022) – Advanced Space LLC, the high-tech commercial aerospace company hosted NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, U.S. Representatives Ed Perlmutter and Jerry McNerney along with some staff members of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and Lt. Governor’s Chief of Staff today to celebrate the upcoming CAPSTONE™ mission heading to the Moon in May as a pathfinder for NASA. Advanced Space showcased their Colorado headquarters, the location of where the Mission Operations Center for their CAPSTONE mission.
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