The spaceflight company Rocket Lab has announced that it will launch its first launch to the moon later this year. The CAPSTONE mission will depart from New Zealand. This launch will represent, for Rocket Lab, a technical breakthrough.

According to EXAME Portugal, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Navigation and Operations Technology Experiment) will serve as an aid to NASA's Artemis program. The U.S. space agency will use CAPSTONE to test orbit stability on the Moon, verifying propulsion needs in lunar orbit. CAPSTONE is designed to help minimize the risks of future trips to the Moon.

This mission had originally been planned to take place in early 2021 at NASA's Wallops facility in Virginia. Rocket Lab did not advance much information about the change in location. "Flexible is not a word normally used to describe lunar missions, but operating two complex launches gives us the freedom to select the location that best meets the mission requirements and schedule," said Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck. 

"Our team is very proud to launch one of the first pathfinding missions to support NASA's goal of providing a sustainable presence on the Moon," he added.

Recall that Rocket Lab has already dealt with two rocket failures and only recently resumed launches after an incident in May of this year, and so "this mission really shows the benefits of collaboration between NASA and industry." says Brad Cheetham, chief executive of Advanced Space, in a statement.