This week, the microwave-sized Capstone satellite successfully left Earth orbit and headed toward
Rocket Lab launched it in six daysback from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula on one of its small Electron rockets. It will take the satellite another four months to reach the Moon, as it travels using minimal energy.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck told The Associated PressPress that his excitement is hard to put into words. “It’s going to take a while to sink in. This has been a two-and-a-half-year project, and it’s just incredibly, incredibly complex to pull off,” he said. “Watching it all come together tonight and seeing the spacecraft head toward the moon is just epic.”
Beck noted that the relatively low costThe mission — estimated at $32.7 million by NASA — marked the beginning of a new era of space exploration. “This is an insane opportunity that has never existed before,” Beck said.
If the rest of the mission is successful, the Capstone satellite will send out vital information for months and orbit in a brand new halo orbit around the moon.
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