Advanced Space to Extend the CAPSTONE Mission with NASA

Advanced Space to Extend the CAPSTONE Mission with NASA

The award prolongs the CAPSTONE™ mission. CAPSTONE™ is currently flying at the Moon and recently marked its 100th orbit in the near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO).

WESTMINSTER, CO, 6 October 2024 Advanced Space’s pioneering Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE™) satellite completed its original 18-month mission for NASA this spring and has been awarded an extension of the mission program.  The mission extension includes a base period to continue nominal mission operations, further demonstrate Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS™) experiments, and perform feasibility analysis for high-priority experiments in support of NASA’s technology needs. The CAPSTONE™ mission has been operating at the Moon for 670+ days performing critical navigation and operations experiments in cislunar space. (more…)

Reflections on the First U.S. Space Force Association Spacepower Conference

Reflections on the First U.S. Space Force Association Spacepower Conference

Taking the Space Force Seriously 

In December, Bradley Cheetham, CEO, Dave Jungkind, Chief Revenue Officer & Special Program Lead, and Bart Leahy, Senior Technical Writer, attended Spacepower. Dave Jungkind shares his perspective on Space Force in the industry. The United States Space Force (USSF) came into being December 20, 2019. Happy belated birthday to our newest service and Semper supra! This past month, The US Space Force Association (SFA), the industry and volunteer community of the Space Force, put together their first conference in Orlando: Spacepower. It was an engaging gathering and Advanced Space was honored to sponsor and attend the conference. (more…)

Advanced Space Awarded Contract to Deliver Air Force Research Laboratory’s Mission to the Moon

Advanced Space Awarded Contract to Deliver Air Force Research Laboratory’s Mission to the Moon

The Oracle spacecraft program will enable U.S. Space Force to support future NASA missions

Westminster, CO – Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, announced that the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, as part of a collaborative effort with AFRL’s Transformational Capabilities Office, has awarded the company a $72 million contract to deliver AFRL’s Oracle spacecraft program, previously called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System, or CHPS. Oracle will demonstrate space situational awareness, object detection and tracking in the regions around the Moon. Advanced Space is the prime contractor for Oracle, and is designing the mission approach, along with advanced navigation, tracking, and communication solutions for this challenging mission. (more…)

Utilization of Space-Based TDoA and FDoA for Cislunar Orbit Determination

Utilization of Space-Based TDoA and FDoA for Cislunar Orbit Determination

Presented at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) 2022 Conference

Michael R. Thompson, Matthew D. Popplewell, Bradley Cheetham

ABSTRACT

This study evaluates the potential observability benefits of space-based passive RF systems compared to other ground-based and space-based observers for cislunar Space Domain Awareness. TDoA and FDoA observations are used for orbit determination of objects in the lunar vicinity using observers in GEO and XGEO. The results are compared to ground-based observations in order to analyze the performance gains over existing architectures. Results show using space-based systems result in faster filter convergence and more accurate state estimates.

(more…)

Advanced Space, U.S. Air Force Sign Cooperative Agreement to Collaborate on Cislunar Activities

Westminster, CO (January 2022) Advanced Space LLC., a leading space solutions company, has entered into a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate, and the Spacecraft Technology Division to share data collected from cislunar space through the CAPSTONE mission.

(more…)