NASA loses radio contact with CAPSTONE lunar probe

In a development that’s thrown a spanner in the works of its US$37.2-million Artemis program, NASA has lost radio contact with its Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat space probe.According to NASA, the loss of communications occurred on June 4, 2023, while CAPSTONE was in contact with the space agency’s Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking and communication system designed to support deep space missions. The blackout came after the spacecraft separated from its Rocket Lab Photon upper stage booster, which had completed seven engine burns over six days, sending the robotic probe out of low-Earth orbit and on a four-month ballistic trajectory to cislunar space.