Advanced Space’s CEO Bradley Cheetham paid a visit to Morehead State University (MSU) in Kentucky today. Cheetham toured the Space Science Center, along with staff members for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Congressman Hal Rogers. While there, the group discussed the successful Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE™) mission, along with potential future collaborations with MSU.
The addition of the Morehead antenna has proven crucial for the mission, as NASA’s Deep Space Network has faced a lot more demand in recent years. The DSN antennas—including the 21-meter dish at Morehead State—provided over 315,000 measurements needed to track and navigate the spacecraft. Since entering its near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), CAPSTONE’s microwave-sized CubeSat has completed 28 orbits and 7 maneuvers while enduring 6 lunar eclipses with a maximum duration of 74.32 minutes. The Advanced Space Team has delivered 89 published orbit determination solutions using DSN.
The addition of the Morehead antenna has proven crucial for the mission, as NASA’s Deep Space Network has faced a lot more demand in recent years. The DSN antennas—including the 21-meter dish at Morehead State—provided over 315,000 measurements needed to track and navigate the spacecraft. Since entering its near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), CAPSTONE’s microwave-sized CubeSat has completed 28 orbits and 7 maneuvers while enduring 6 lunar eclipses with a maximum duration of 74.32 minutes. The Advanced Space Team has delivered 89 published orbit determination solutions using DSN.
CAPSTONE was the first mission to use Morehead’s tracking antenna for its operations in deep space, the facility was added to the Network in 2021. The DSN “affiliated node,” now known as Deep Space Station 17, provides telemetry, tracking, and control services for NASA and commercial space missions. Morehead’s antenna installation also helps engage university students by providing real-world space industry experience in deep-space mission operations.
Augmenting the DSN provides availability when scheduling constraints otherwise limit the network’s existing infrastructure. Similar to MSU’s augmentation of the DSN, Advanced Space’s CAPS technology will support navigation and communications relay at the Moon to support future mission growth. Advanced Space is demonstrating key technologies and learning lessons to inform these future systems to support growth of lunar operations. As the number of missions operating at the Moon increases, the need for augmentation will further increase. And while the Morehead State tracking dish supported CAPSTONE, the CAPSTONE mission also aided the Morehead State tracking dish by validating its operational performance ahead of the Artemis 1 mission launch late last year. This provided confidence for additional payload users on Artemis 1, which included a spacecraft built and managed by Morehead State.
“The addition of the MSU dish has been key to our mission,” said Cheetham. “And through it, CAPS being demonstrated on CAPSTONE will provide future missions with navigation support capabilities. Our partnership with MSU will be a critical component of future lunar navigation and communication relay systems.”
About CAPSTONE™: CAPSTONE Press Kit
CAPSTONE™ is owned and operated by Advanced Space. It is one of the first CubeSats to fly in cislunar space – the orbital area near and around the Moon – and demonstrate an innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation technology. The mission launched on June 28, 2022.
