NASA Deep Space Network

Advanced Space's Resilient CAPSTONE Mission for NASA is Operating at the Moon for 445 Days: Continues to Transform Exploration with Cutting Edge Technology

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 1, 2024

WESTMINSTER, Colo., Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions company, is pleased to announce that CAPSTONE™ – the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment – continues to be "The Little Satellite That Could" as it flies near the Moon over 440 days. The spacecraft is conducting operations in Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO); achieving record-long mission operational "up times;" conducting experiments that demonstrate its usefulness for position, navigation, and timing (PNT); and for testing software at the Moon.

Key Points: 
  • CAPSTONE™ continues to be “The Little Satellite That Could” as it flies near the Moon for 445 days.
  • The 112 days were interrupted by a system reset caused by a ground station being unavailable as scheduled.
  • On the positive side, this brief reset meant that the spacecraft operated as designed when it didn't hear from us.
  • Currently, CAPSTONE is using the NASA DSN ground architecture, but other ground segments could be demonstrated.

Terran Orbital Celebrates CAPSTONE Spacecraft’s One Year in Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit

Retrieved on: 
Friday, November 17, 2023

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP ) (“Terran Orbital” or “the Company”), a global leader in satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, celebrates the one-year milestone of the CAPSTONE mission in a lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO).

Key Points: 
  • Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP ) (“Terran Orbital” or “the Company”), a global leader in satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, celebrates the one-year milestone of the CAPSTONE mission in a lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO).
  • CAPSTONE, designed, built, and integrated by Terran Orbital and owned by Advanced Space, has demonstrated significant achievements during its mission.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231117536886/en/
    Terran Orbital celebrates the one-year milestone of the CAPSTONE mission in a lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO).
  • The mission's achievements are a testament to the collaborative efforts of the entire CAPSTONE team, reaffirming Terran Orbital Corporation's commitment to advancing the frontiers of space exploration.

NASA's Psyche Spacecraft, Optical Comms Demo En Route to Asteroid

Retrieved on: 
Friday, October 13, 2023

"Congratulations to the Psyche team on a successful launch, the first journey to a metal-rich asteroid," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Key Points: 
  • "Congratulations to the Psyche team on a successful launch, the first journey to a metal-rich asteroid," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
  • By August 2029, the spacecraft will begin to orbit the 173-mile-wide (279-kilometer-wide) asteroid – the only metal-class asteroid ever to be explored.
  • "Now the real fun begins as we race toward asteroid Psyche to unlock the secrets of how planets form and evolve."
  • While the transceiver is hosted by Psyche, the tech demo will not relay Psyche mission data.

COMMUNICATIONS & POWER INDUSTRIES TO SUPPORT PERATON IN PROVIDING GATEWAY ANTENNAS FOR NASA LEGS PROGRAM

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Antenna Technologies division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has received a subcontract valued at more than $30 million to provide earth station antennas for the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program's Lunar Exploration Ground Sites (LEGS) project. The subcontract was awarded to CPI by Peraton, a national security company, as part of its multiyear Space Exploration Network Services and Evolution (SENSE) contract from NASA for telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) services for near-Earth missions.

Key Points: 
  • CPI will provide three 20-meter diameter gateway antenna systems, operating in X-band and Ka-band for the three LEGS sites, equally spaced around the planet to enable near-continuous direct-to-Earth communications and navigation services.
  • The LEGS antennas will ease coverage demands on SCaN's Deep Space Network, or DSN.
  • These communications services are critical to NASA's Artemis exploration program and other lunar and cis-lunar missions, as they keep Artemis astronauts on the Moon connected with their support teams on Earth.
  • The antennas are compliant with the requirements of planned lunar relay satellite constellations and NASA's LEGS program.

Peraton Supporting $513.5M Deep Space Network (DSN) Program

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 10, 2023

The company has a history with DSN dating back to 2004 – including helping the James Web Space Telescope communicate across the cosmos, linking mankind and the moon , and supporting the Perseverance rover on Mars .

Key Points: 
  • The company has a history with DSN dating back to 2004 – including helping the James Web Space Telescope communicate across the cosmos, linking mankind and the moon , and supporting the Perseverance rover on Mars .
  • Peraton will provide DSN engineering, testing and sustainment services, mission planning, network operations and support, network operations, network logistics and will manage the maintenance and operation of the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California.
  • "We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with JPL to further enable assured communications for our Nation's space exploration missions," said Roger Mason, Ph.D., president, Space & Intelligence sector.
  • "The Deep Space Network is the critical link that connects NASA's lunar and planetary spacecraft with mission control here on Earth."

Voyager 2 has lost track of Earth. Only one antenna in the world can help it 'phone home'

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Almost 46 years later, after exploring the Solar System and beyond, one of those spacecraft – Voyager 2 – has lost contact with Earth.

Key Points: 
  • Almost 46 years later, after exploring the Solar System and beyond, one of those spacecraft – Voyager 2 – has lost contact with Earth.
  • All communication with Voyager 2 goes through NASA’s Deep Space Station 43, a 70-metre radio dish at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex operated by CSIRO.

Through the Solar System and beyond

    • NASA’s twin Voyager spacecraft – Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 – were designed to complete a “grand tour” of the Solar System, visiting the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
    • Having completed their tasks in 1989, both Voyager 1 and 2 have long since left our Solar System behind.

Whispers from space

    • As a result, the spacecraft is currently unable to receive commands or transmit any data back to Earth.
    • Mishaps like this are not uncommon in space exploration.
    • Even when Voyager 2 is pointing at Earth, its signal is already a whisper from space, billions of times weaker than the power generated by a tiny watch battery.

A heartbeat 20 billion kilometres from home

    • Canberra’s Deep Space Station 43 is the only antenna in the world that can communicate directly with both Voyagers.
    • Since Voyager 2’s antenna was tweaked off target, we have been using Deep Space Station 43 to listen intently for any signal.
    • Now attempts will be made to relay commands to Voyager 2 and tell it to re-orient its antenna towards Earth.

Into interstellar space

    • We have been with it on every step of its journey so far, and plan to continue to provide mission support for however long the mission lasts.
    • Voyager 2 was launched on August 20 1977 and reached Jupiter in July 1979, a few months after Voyager 1.
    • The Voyagers are now in the “clear air” of interstellar space and can, for the first time, make direct measurements of this environment.

Advanced Space Commemorates One Year Since CAPSTONE Separation

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 10, 2023

WESTMINSTER, Colo., July 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions provider, is celebrating its CAPSTONE mission.

Key Points: 
  • WESTMINSTER, Colo., July 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions provider, is celebrating its CAPSTONE mission.
  • CAPSTONE’s Principal Investigator and Advanced Space’s CEO Bradley Cheetham expressed his gratitude to the team: “This has not been an easy road.
  • As the microwave-sized spacecraft passed 285,000 kilometers from Earth, Advanced Space brought “all hands on deck” to work the communication problem.
  • Working with limited data, once again the teams at the Deep Space Network (DSN), Terran Orbital , and Advanced Space began an around-the-clock work session to address the problem.

Terran Orbital-Developed CAPSTONE Completes Primary Mission

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Key Points: 
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230605005630/en/
    Terran Orbital-Developed CAPSTONE Completes Primary Mission (Image Credit: Terran Orbital)
    Designed, built, and integrated by Terran Orbital and led by Advanced Space, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, otherwise known as CAPSTONE, is laying the groundwork for future lunar exploration by demonstrating operations in NRHO.
  • CAPSTONE operations are shared between Terran Orbital and Advanced Space for NASA.
  • CAPSTONE was the first mission to use Morehead State University - this capacity added to DSN was critical to support the mission.
  • “Terran Orbital is thrilled CAPSTONE completed the first six months of its primary mission,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell.

Advanced Space Announces Successful Completion of 6-Month CAPSTONE Primary Mission for NASA

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, May 18, 2023

Westminster, Colorado, May 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of the six-month Primary Mission for CAPSTONE, the first commercial satellite to operate at the Moon.

Key Points: 
  • Westminster, Colorado, May 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of the six-month Primary Mission for CAPSTONE, the first commercial satellite to operate at the Moon.
  • CAPSTONE was the first mission to use Morehead State University - this capacity added to DSN was critical to support the mission.
  • “We’re extremely proud that the CAPSTONE mission has reached its primary mission milestone.
  • Navigating to the Moon and in the NRHO has presented a lot of challenges that the mission teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital have had to overcome,” said Alec Forsman, Mission Operations Manager for CAPSTONE at Advanced Space.

Rocket Lab Increases Space Systems Offerings with New Products for Small Satellites

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. ( Nasdaq: RKLB ) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today released two new high-performance space systems products designed to increase the availability of essential satellite components to the global small satellite market.

Key Points: 
  • Rocket Lab USA, Inc. ( Nasdaq: RKLB ) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today released two new high-performance space systems products designed to increase the availability of essential satellite components to the global small satellite market.
  • The products join Rocket Lab’s existing heritage space systems components including star trackers, reaction wheels, separation systems, radios, flight software, ground software, and solar power solutions.
  • Combined, Rocket Lab’s space systems components have supported more than 1,700 space missions to date.
  • The Rocket Lab Frontier-X radio joins the Frontier-S ranging RF transceiver in bringing advanced functionality not typically available in affordable software-defined radios.