Small Satellite Launch Kicks Off NASA’s Next-Generation Lunar Program

Irene Klotz June 30, 2022
Capstone spacecraft
The Capstone spacecraft, built by Terran Orbital for Advanced Space, was integrated onto a Rocket Lab Photon satellite bus and launched on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on June 28.
Credit: Rocket Lab
The kickoff of NASA’s Artemis program began not with the launch of the mighty Space Launch System Moon rocket, which is expected this summer, but rather with a small-satellite launcher making its first mission into deep space. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket had flown 26 times since its May 2017 debut...
Irene Klotz

Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.

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