August 16, 2025
Spaceflight Now
  • Home
  • News Archive
  • Launch Schedule
  • Mission Reports
    • Antares Launcher
    • Ariane 5
    • Atlas 5
    • Delta 4
    • Falcon 9
    • Falcon Heavy
    • H-2A
    • Soyuz
    • Space Station
  • Members
    • Sign in
    • Become a member
    • Members Content
  • Live
  • Shop
Breaking News
  • [ August 16, 2025 ] SpaceX schedules 10th test flight for Starship, details recent setbacks Mission Reports
  • [ August 14, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
  • [ August 13, 2025 ] ULA launches Vulcan rocket on first Space Force mission Mission Reports
  • [ August 12, 2025 ] Launch preview: ULA to launch first national security mission on a Vulcan rocket Mission Reports
  • [ August 10, 2025 ] SpaceX launches Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites on fifth scheduled attempt Falcon 9

Advanced Space

Mission Reports

NASA picks Rocket Lab to launch lunar CubeSat mission

February 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Friday that Rocket Lab will launch a 55-pound CubeSat from Wallops Island, Virginia, toward the moon in early 2021 on a demonstration mission to test lunar navigation techniques and scout a unique elliptical orbit for the planned Gateway mini-space station.

News

NASA to fly CubeSat pathfinder for Gateway in unique lunar orbit

September 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

As soon as next year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat the size of a microwave oven into a unique elliptical orbit around the moon as a scout for the future lunar Gateway, a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings beginning as soon as 2024.

News Headlines

  • SpaceX schedules 10th test flight for Starship, details recent setbacks
    August 16, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    August 14, 2025
  • ULA launches Vulcan rocket on first Space Force mission
    August 13, 2025
  • Launch preview: ULA to launch first national security mission on a Vulcan rocket
    August 12, 2025
  • SpaceX launches Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites on fifth scheduled attempt
    August 10, 2025
  • Crew 10 returns to Earth with Pacific Ocean splashdown
    August 9, 2025
  • Jim Lovell, Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut, dies at 97
    August 8, 2025
  • SpaceX launches first Falcon 9 rocket from West Coast in two weeks
    August 8, 2025
  • ULA’s Tory Bruno lays out plans for ramping up launch cadence
    August 7, 2025
  • Poor weather scrubs SpaceX’s second launch attempt to launch 24 Amazon Project Kuiper satellites from CAPE CANAVERAL
    August 6, 2025
  • Home
  • News Archive
  • Launch Schedule
  • Mission Reports
    • Antares Launcher
    • Ariane 5
    • Atlas 5
    • Delta 4
    • Falcon 9
    • Falcon Heavy
    • H-2A
    • Soyuz
    • Space Station
  • Members
    • Sign in
    • Become a member
    • Members Content
  • Live
  • Shop

© 1999-2025 Spaceflight Now Inc