Kristen Smith
NASA has awarded Advanced Space a contract to extend the mission of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, 12U cubesat.
CAPSTONE, operating in the near rectilinear halo orbit, serves as a software test bed and informs NASA with significant data about navigation and operations in NRHO, where the Lunar Gateway station will be built to support moon missions, Advanced Space said Friday.
The Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems-built satellite, launched in June 2022, has already completed more than 100 revolutions around NRHO and demonstrated software for spacecraft autonomy.
AI-Powered CAPSTONE Experiment
Advanced Space recently performed the experiment in support of an Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity study under the Microelectronics for Artificial Intelligence program. SigmaZero, a neural network-enabled software suite, is designed to detect spacecraft navigation errors, including unintended spacecraft accelerations; optimize flight software management and deployment; and enable autonomous maneuvers. The demonstration aims to validate SigmaZero’s capability for future cislunar and interplanetary missions.
Under the new contract, Advanced Space will facilitate more experiments on the spacecraft, in partnership with Tyvak and NASA’s Deep Space Network, or DSN. Working with DSN, which generates CAPSTONE observation data, will help ensure the satellite operates consistent with the documented approaches and system interfaces the operations team has been using since its launch.
The companies and the DSN will also work with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter operations team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center under a recently extended Space Act Agreement to evaluate and collect cross-link data between the two spacecraft.
