Space company Rocket Lab has announced it will launch an unmanned mission to the moon from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula later this year.
An Electron rocket will put a NASA satellite called CAPSTONE into orbit around the Earth, before its Photon spacecraft will "separate and use its 3D-printed HyperCurie engine to provide in-space propulsion to allow CAPSTONE to break free of Earth’s gravity and set a course for the moon", Rocket Lab said on Saturday.
It will be the first moon mission ever launched from New Zealand. The original plan was to take off from a Rocket Lab launch site in the US state of Virginia, but this was changed to Mahia to take advantage of a launch window opening up in the fourth quarter of 2021.
"Flexible isn’t a word usually used to describe lunar missions but operating two launch complexes gives us the freedom to select a site that best meets mission requirements and schedule," said Peter Beck, the Kiwi who founded Rocket Lab.
"Our team is immensely proud to be launching one of the first pathfinding missions to support NASA’s goal of delivering a sustainable and robust presence on the moon."
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CAPSTONE will test a "unique elliptical orbit" around the moon, as part of NASA's Artemis plan to set up a permanent long-term presence on the Earth's only natural satellite. At its closest CAPSTONE will pass within 1600km of the moon's poles, before swinging out to 70,000km on the other side.
"Its location at a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon, offers stability for long-term missions... and requires minimal energy to maintain," NASA said.
The satellite weighs about 25kg and is the size of a microwave.
Rocket Lab's first mission for NASA launched in 2018. Beck said it was "exciting to be working with them again to go just a bit further than usual… some 380,000 km further".
Beck founded Rocket Lab in 2006, and first put a rocket into space in 2009. It moved its headquarters to the US in 2013, and has since had 18 successful launches and three failures.
