NASA's CAPSTONE 02 Lunar Navigation Test Mission Planned for 2027
NASA will launch two identical 400‑kilogram satellites in 2027 as part of the CAPSTONE 02 mission, a follow‑up to the 2022‑23 CAPSTONE demonstration. The contract for the mission was awarded to Advanced Space, and the spacecraft will be manufactured by Terran Orbital Systems.
CAPSTONE 02 will test autonomous navigation in cislunar space, including satellite‑to‑satellite encounter, formation‑flight, and communications that do not rely on ground stations. Each craft will carry an optical sensor and navigation software that determines its position by observing celestial bodies, a capability intended to support future lunar‑gateway and Orion docking operations.
The mission builds on the original CAPSTONE, the first commercial U.S. satellite to reach a stable halo orbit around the Moon, which validated autonomous spacecraft positioning and cislunar communications in 2022‑23.
Entities: Advanced Space · CAPSTONE · CAPSTONE 02 · NASA · Terran Orbital Systems
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The CAPSTONE 02 contract was awarded to Advanced Space. (Advanced Space)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The original CAPSTONE mission in 2022‑23 demonstrated a stable lunar halo orbit with a 25‑kilogram satellite. (NASA)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Terran Orbital Systems will build the two CAPSTONE 02 satellites. (Terran Orbital Systems)
- [● 2 SOURCES] NASA will launch two identical 400‑kilogram satellites in 2027 for the CAPSTONE 02 mission. (NASA)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Each CAPSTONE 02 satellite will carry an optical sensor and navigation software that determines position using celestial bodies. (NASA)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] CAPSTONE 02 will test autonomous navigation, encounter, formation flight, and communication without ground control. (NASA)