Nov 13, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
CAPSTONE made its initial insertion into the 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 the first CubeSat to fly to and operate at the Moon. (more…)
Nov 13, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission, Community, Team
The CAPSTONE Countdown is nearly over! We are mere hours from arriving at the Moon, and there would be no mission without the incredible work of the Advanced Space CAPSTONE Mission Operations Team. From orbit determination and navigation to all the details behind the scenes, thank you to this talented team of engineers, technicians, and more: (more…)
Oct 31, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
Advanced Space Data Analysis Shows Recent Trajectory Maneuver was Successful
Westminster, CO (October 31, 2022) Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company with breakthrough navigation technology, completed its fourth trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) for CAPSTONE on Thursday. TCM-4 was the fourth of six planned maneuvers en route to the Moon, targeting the precise orbit for the CAPSTONE demonstration. This follows the restoration of the spacecraft’s capabilities as it has recovered from the anomaly that occurred after TCM-3. (more…)
Oct 20, 2022 | Community
“This mural titled Luna captures the sense of wonder humans have
when we lift our eyes to the sky and open ourselves to the mysteries
of the cosmos. The same sense of wonder we have here on Earth,
but from the setting of the Moon – mankind’s next frontier.”
(more…)
Oct 18, 2022 | Papers & Presentations
Presented at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) 2022 Conference
Michael R. Thompson, Matthew D. Popplewell, Bradley Cheetham
ABSTRACT
This study evaluates the potential observability benefits of space-based passive RF systems compared to other ground-based and space-based observers for cislunar Space Domain Awareness. TDoA and FDoA observations are used for orbit determination of objects in the lunar vicinity using observers in GEO and XGEO. The results are compared to ground-based observations in order to analyze the performance gains over existing architectures. Results show using space-based systems result in faster filter convergence and more accurate state estimates.
(more…)
Oct 13, 2022 | Papers & Presentations
Hard to believe IAC 2022 was a few weeks ago and the year is almost over! In case you weren’t one of the lucky attendees to the Paris show, we’ve added our presented papers below for download and review. (more…)
Oct 7, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
Over the past couple of weeks, the CAPSTONE mission team has been working to resolve an anomaly that occurred early last month and resulted in the spacecraft losing full 3-axis attitude control and entering into a spin stabilized state. Through extensive analysis and evaluation supported by a dedicated team of individuals on the mission team and key partners, the most likely cause of the anomaly was identified as a valve related issue on one of the spacecraft’s eight (8) thrusters. The partially open valve resulted in thrust from the associated thruster whenever the propulsion system was pressurized. To attempt a recovery from this condition, the mission team conducted multiple tests on the vehicle and evaluated extensive telemetry and simulation data and then formulated a plan for attempting recovery of the vehicle’s full 3-axis control. (more…)
Sep 30, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
On September 21st, we provided an update on the CAPSTONE mission. Below is a new update. (more…)
Sep 21, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
On September 15th, we provided an update on the CAPSTONE mission. Below is a new update. (more…)
Sep 15, 2022 | CAPSTONE Mission
On September 12th, we provided an update on the CAPSTONE mission. Below is an update. (more…)
