Advanced Space has been selected by NASA to lead the next phase of lunar technology development, securing the CAPSTONE 02 mission to demonstrate the autonomous navigation and spacecraft rendezvous capabilities expected to underpin future crewed missions to the moon and beyond.
Building on the success of the original CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) mission, the new program will deploy two identical spacecraft into lunar orbit to test advanced rendezvous and proximity operations, autonomous navigation and cislunar communications technologies. Scheduled to launch in 2027, the mission represents a major step towards establishing the orbital infrastructure needed to support NASA’s Artemis program and its long-term Moon Base initiative.
Unlike its predecessor, which successfully validated operations in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon, CAPSTONE 02 shifts the focus from proving orbital dynamics to demonstrating increasingly sophisticated spacecraft operations in deep space. The mission will see the two spacecraft repeatedly manoeuvre around one another, alternating between “chaser” and “target” roles while testing the autonomous systems required for future lunar exploration.
The spacecraft, each weighing around 400 kilograms and supplied by Terran Orbital, will use a combination of optical sensors, celestial navigation and ground tracking to perform complex rendezvous operations in the challenging gravitational environment created by the Earth and moon.
Engineers hope the demonstrations will validate techniques similar to those that future Orion spacecraft will use when docking with lunar landers in cislunar space before astronauts descend to the lunar surface.
The mission will also further mature the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, a navigation capability first demonstrated during the original CAPSTONE mission.
The technology enables spacecraft to determine their position relative to one another without relying exclusively on Earth-based tracking stations, a capability regarded as essential for supporting multiple spacecraft operating simultaneously around the moon.
Christopher Baker, lead of NASA’s in-space infrastructure portfolio, said iterative flight demonstrations were essential to building the capabilities required for sustained lunar exploration.
“Achieving our most ambitious space exploration goals requires iterative, risk-tolerant demonstrations in partnership with industry. Technology development through flight testing is how we convert hard problems into the lasting capabilities needed for a permanent presence at the moon.”
Sean Fuller, NASA’s Moon Base CAPSTONE manager, said the mission would build directly on the achievements of the original spacecraft.
“By expanding on the lessons learned from CAPSTONE to demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operational concepts, CAPSTONE 02 lays the foundation for lunar infrastructure and commercial services that support Artemis, Moon Base and future missions to deep space.”
For Advanced Space, the award reinforces its growing role as one of NASA’s key commercial partners in cislunar exploration. As international interest in establishing a sustained presence around the moon accelerates, CAPSTONE 02 is expected to provide the technologies needed to enable autonomous spacecraft operations, scalable lunar logistics and the next generation of commercial services supporting humanity’s return to deep space.
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