NASA Satellite: ‘Capstone’ Reaches Lunar Orbit | tagesschau.de

The flight took four months – the “Capstone” satellite has now reached lunar orbit. NASA’s microwave-sized rocket is testing conditions at the Gateway space station.

NASA’s Capstone satellite has reached its lunar destination four months after it was launched from a spaceport in New Zealand. NASA announced that the small satellite has swung into the intended orbit of the Moon.

The rocket, the size of a microwave, is now orbiting the Moon exactly in the orbit intended for the planned Gateway space station. In this way, potential hazards to the plant must be ruled out in advance.

Waystation for manned missions to the Moon

The satellite was launched from New Zealand at the end of June aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. The test is part of the ambitious Artemis program to return US astronauts to the moon.

The Gateway space station, in which the European Space Agency (ESA) is also involved, is intended to serve as an intermediate station for manned missions to the Moon – and possibly later also as a station for missions to Mars.