Washington — NASA announced on July 24 that it awarded a contract to Advanced Space for the CAPSTONE 02 mission, a pair of 400‑kilogram smallsat spacecraft planned for launch in 2027. The twin spacecraft, built by Terran Orbital, will operate in cislunar space to test rendezvous and proximity operations under the influence of both Earth and lunar gravity, conduct navigation and communications demonstrations, and measure the radiation environment around the Moon. The mission will allow the spacecraft to switch roles as target and chaser while performing rendezvous maneuvers. An advanced imager from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will support the proximity operations and lunar imaging. Both NASA and Advanced Space described the effort as risk‑reduction for future Artemis missions that require Orion spacecraft to dock with lunar landers. Brad Cheetham, president and chief executive of Advanced Space, said the demonstration will mature autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations in cislunar space, enabling routine lunar exploration and long‑term presence. Christopher Baker, lead for the in‑space infrastructure portfolio in NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate, added that flight testing converts technical challenges into capabilities needed for a permanent lunar presence. CAPSTONE 02 follows the original CAPSTONE mission, which used a single cubesat to evaluate operations in a near‑rectilinear halo orbit. The original mission launched on a Rocket Lab Electron in 2022 and completed extended testing of autonomous navigation and delay‑tolerant networking in June. Alec Forsman, chief engineer for CAPSTONE 02 at Advanced Space, said the new mission will extend capabilities to demonstrate rendezvous in a three‑body orbit, test cislunar communications architectures, and validate autonomy required for future lunar missions. The contract value has not been disclosed, but House appropriators directed NASA in May to allocate between $20 million and $60 million for CAPSTONE 02 in fiscal year 2027.