NASA ends its CAPSTONE missions, but the spacecraft flies on. The experimental craft successfully tested a near-rectilinear halo orbit between Earth and Moon gravities for future missions. July 13, 2026 A one-to-one model of CAPSTONE was on display at Space Tech Expo 2026, shown here with Luke Idziak, spacecraft systems project manager for Astrion, a company supporting operations in NASA Ames Research Center. At a glance. * CAPSTONE became the first spacecraft to successfully fly in a near-rectilinear halo orbit. * The mission validated navigation technology and software for future lunar missions. * Advanced Space will operate future CAPSTONE missions. An experimental spacecraft launched in June 2022 set out in a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) balanced between the gravities of Earth and the Moon. NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology and Navigational Experiment, known as CAPSTONE, was the first to travel in such an orbit, and it has since "validated a dynamic orbit around the Moon to pave the way for a lunar space station or other orbital operations," Luke Idziak, spacecraft systems project manager for Astrion, told Design News at Space Tech Expo. Part of CAPSTONE's job was to validate software and navigation technology for future missions, and according to NASA, the spacecraft met all primary and extended mission objectives. NASA therefore wrapped up its work on CAPSTONE in June, but the craft will continue in orbit to provide risk reduction and demonstration for future missions, according to the space agency. Its orbit could help identify a future path for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost in NASA's Artemis program. Astrion employees have been working at NASA Ames Research Center to support the programmatic and oversight tasks of the STMD Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems office at Ames and help to allow missions like CAPSTONE to be possible, Idziak tells Design News. "Astrion employees are integral to supporting most of the spaceflight missions developed at NASA Ames and work side by side with our civil servant partners on ensuring successful spacecraft integration, launch, and operation," he says. CAPSTONE's achievements were highlighted at Space Tech Expo. The spacecraft completed its original mission in 2023, achieving the following: * First successful spacecraft insertion into an NRHO. * Verified characteristics of a cislunar NRHO for future spacecraft. * Characterized cislunar communications behavior for small spacecraft. * Provided operational experience for autonomy, fault management, and recovery. * Validated small-satellite propulsion, altitude determination and control, and system reliability in deep space. * Established a foundation for commercial support of future lunar operations. Its expanded mission completed in May 2026 demonstrated: * Use of a software-defined satellite with modular software architecture that enhances CAPSTONE's ability to serve as a testbed for other software demonstrations. * Enables new experiments without launching new missions. * Real-time image processing of the Moon, Earth, and other bodies as well as one- and two-way ranging from NASA's Deep Space Network stations. * Autonomous onboard maneuver planning for maintenance of CAPSTONE's orbit in the NRHO. * Delayed tolerant networking for real-time file upload/download to/from CAPSTONE Having achieved these goals, CAPSTONE "will stay in space with any future operations passing from NASA to the operator company Advanced Space," Idziak says. Astrion employees continue to work at NASA Ames on numerous other projects and flight missions, he adds. Editor-in-Chief, Design News Daphne Allen is editor-in-chief of Design News. She previously served as editor-in-chief of MD+DI and of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News and also served as an editor for Packaging Digest. Daphne has covered design, manufacturing, materials, packaging, labeling, and regulatory issues for more than 30 years. She has also presented on these topics in several webinars and conferences, most recently leading an Industry ShopTalk discussion at MD&M West 2026 on artificial intelligence. She moderated the webinar, Harnessing AI to Transform Engineering & Manufacturing, and led an Automation Tour at Advanced Manufacturing Minneapolis 2024. She also moderated a panel discussion on women in engineering at DesignCon 2025. Daphne has previously presented in meetings of the IoPP Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee and served as a judge in awards programs held by The Tube Council and the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council. She also received the Bert Moore Excellence in Journalism Award in the AIM Awards in 2012. Want more Design News in your search results?

Dalia Khanafseh joins Sagewind Capital as principal of portfolio operations. * Sagewind Capital has named Dalia Khanafseh as principal of portfolio operations * The newly-created position calls on Khanafseh to work to ensure the growth and success of Sagewind's portfolio companies * Khanafseh joins Sagewind from Astrion, where she served as senior vice president of transformation Private equity firm Sagewind Capital said Tuesday that it has appointed Dalia Khanafseh to the newly-created position of principal of portfolio operations. The role calls on Khanafseh to work to ensure the growth and success of Sagewind's portfolio companies, which support missions that, according to Sagewind Capital co-founder and President Raj Kanodia, "have never been more consequential." Commenting on her appointment, Khanafseh said, "Throughout my career, the throughline has always been the same - building great businesses with exceptional teams. This philosophy is at the heart of what Sagewind does. I look forward to supporting our portfolio companies as they grow to meet the needs of our customers and the missions they serve." Who is Dalia Khanafseh? Khanafseh describes herself on LinkedIn as a "strategy and operations leader with a demonstrated track record leading enterprise-wide transformations that drive growth, enable operational excellence and unlock enterprise value." Sagewind's new principal of portfolio operations brings to her role 15 years of professional experience. Before moving to Sagewind, Khanafseh worked at Astrion, a technology provider for defense, homeland security, intelligence, and space missions. There, she held the position of senior vice president of transformation, in which capacity she led enterprise transformation efforts, including integrations and operating model and governance redesigns. Previously, Khanafseh worked at software company Appian, where she held the position of director of customer success strategy, in which capacity she led the development of a customer success methodology. Earlier, Khanafseh worked at LMI, where she held various operational and leadership roles. What is Sagewind Capital? Sagewind Capital is a private equity firm with a focus on defense and government technology. The firm announced in March a definitive agreement to sell one of its portfolio companies, Aechelon Technology, to autonomy software and unmanned systems developer Shield AI. Aechelon develops simulation and training systems, specializing in geospecific flight simulators and sensor artificial intelligence training. Its synthetic reality platform enables pilot training and aircraft testing in virtual environments. Shield AI CEO Gary Steele said the transaction will accelerate the development of his company's Hivemind software. Upon the deal's closing, Aechelon will operate independently within Shield AI. Aechelon co-founder and CEO Ignacio Sanz-Pastor will report to Steele and continue leading product and customer strategy.

Astrion, a government contractor, has selected Icertis's AI-native contract intelligence platform to unify contracts, procurement and post-award administration. The move aims to reduce contract cycle times and strengthen regulatory compliance as Astrion manages federal work. Following a merger of three government services firms, Astrion needed a scalable solution to handle its expanded contract portfolio. The Icertis platform will help maintain FAR/DFARS compliance, automate workflows, improve financial oversight and create a standardised contracting foundation for future acquisitions. The platform integrates with Microsoft Azure Government and SAM.gov, enabling government contractors to strengthen regulatory oversight whilst operating with greater agility. Icertis serves major government contractors including Collins Aerospace and Booz Allen Hamilton, and recently reported 80% year-over-year growth in its public sector business.