And need agency NASA She hopes to use it to land astronauts in the coming years as she tries a new orbit around the moon. Space Back to the moon.

So the agency decided to send a test satellite New ZealandIt is set to release on Tuesday.

If the launch is successful, a microwave oven-sized satellite (Capstone Cubsat) will first orbit the moon in a new orbit and send data for at least 6 months.

Finally, NASA plans to set up a space station in orbit that will allow astronauts to land on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis spaceflight program.

The rocket carrying the satellite, which is owned and operated by Advanced Space Inc., was launched by the Rocket Lab in Colorado, California.

The mission came to NASA relatively quickly and inexpensively, totaling $ 32.7 million.

It will take more than 4 months to launch the satellite, which weighs 25 kilograms, into three phases.

Rocket Lab spokesman Morgan Bailey said it was the company’s most ambitious and complex mission to date, after more than two years of collaboration with NASA.

“Of course there will be a lot of complex issues to solve, but we eliminated these issues one by one, so we can launch today,” she added.