Rocket Lab is known for launching tiny satellites into Earth orbit, but the company has big plans to venture deeper into space, with its first mission to the Moon set for next year. Thanks to a contract with NASA, Rocket Lab will send a small spacecraft called CAPSTONE into orbit around the Moon to test out how to navigate in lunar orbit and help human missions to the Moon in the future.

It'll be the most ambitious mission yet for Rocket Lab, which just launched its workhorse Electron rocket on its 12th flight this weekend. In total, the company has put up to 53 spacecraft into space, and so far, all of the those launches have sent satellites into low Earth orbit. But the company has been eyeing ways to push the envelope. "From day one that I came to Rocket Lab, it's been an interest to stretch the legs of Electron and keep pushing to see what we can do," Amanda Stiles, the Moon program manager for Rocket Lab who used to be the director for Google Lunar X Prize, tells The Verge. "And I know from the very highest levels of the company, there's always been a big interest in going to the Moon."

This mission will rely on a key piece of hardware that Rocket Lab has been using for the last few years: its Photon spacecraft. The cylindrical vehicle sits on the top of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, propelling customers' hardware into low Earth orbit. It can also serve as a customizable satellite that can carry various payloads and instruments into space. "For most people's purposes, they're looking at low Earth orbit, but it's also flexible where we can upgrade it and use it as a platform for these more advanced missions," says Stiles. "So, this is the first advanced version of a Photon for that purpose."