Lunar Gateway

The Lunar Gateway was a planned space station that would have been built in orbit around the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Work on it began in 2017 and continued until 2026, when NASA decided to focus instead on creating a base on the lunar surface. The parts meant for Gateway will now be used for other space projects.

Many countries worked together on this project. These included the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates.

One reason for building Gateway was that the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts, could not leave its orbit around the Moon on its own. By placing Gateway in a special path called a near-rectilinear halo orbit, it would have needed less fuel to stay in place. Gateway would have helped Orion meet lunar landers, move crews, and support both people and robots on the Moon. It would have been the first space station beyond low Earth orbit and could have helped prepare for future trips to Mars.

Overview

The Gateway was planned to be an important part of the Artemis program starting in the late 2020s. It would have helped connect spacecraft like the Orion and lunar landers such as Starship HLS. It would also support missions to the lunar south polar region and serve as a place for astronauts to prepare for trips to the Moon.

Scientists wanted to use the Gateway to study many things, including planetary science, astrophysics, Earth observation, space biology, heliophysics, and how human health changes in space. Building the Gateway started in the early 2020s with parts like the Power and Propulsion Element and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost. These pieces were supposed to launch together on a Falcon Heavy rocket, but the Gateway project was later canceled. The first astronauts were expected to visit during Artemis IV, which was set to launch after September 2028.

Name

The space station was first called the Deep Space Gateway (DSG) when it was announced in 2017. In 2019, NASA changed its name to Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), and later that year, it was officially named Gateway. The station's logo was designed to look like the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

History

Background

The Apollo Command and Service Module was the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and connect with another spacecraft, the Apollo Lunar Module. People have always dreamed of building bases on the Moon, starting with the first landing spot called Tranquility Base.

Studies

In 2012, NASA shared ideas for a space station near the Moon called the Deep Space Habitat. This idea led to studies in 2015. In February 2018, these studies helped plan the Gateway's living space. The Gateway’s solar electric Power and Propulsion Element was part of a mission that was later canceled called the Asteroid Redirect Mission.

In November 2017, NASA asked scientists around the world to share ideas for research using the Gateway. A meeting happened in Denver, Colorado, from February 27 to March 1, 2018, where many ideas were shared.

In 2018, NASA started a competition for students to create ideas for the Gateway. The winning idea came from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.

On May 2, 2018, NASA said the Gateway was important for exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond the Solar System.

International participants

In September 2017, NASA and Russia talked about working together. But by January 2021, Russia decided not to join. Before this change, agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates planned to help with the Gateway, bringing tools and parts to help explore the Moon.

Power and propulsion

Main article: Power and Propulsion Element

In November 2017, NASA asked five companies to find affordable ways to build the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). In 2019, Maxar Technologies got the job to build it. The PPE was supposed to work for about 15 years.

Cancellation

In May 2025, a budget plan suggested stopping the Lunar Gateway because of cost and new goals, but later allowed some money for it. By March 2026, NASA decided to stop working on the Gateway as planned and focus on building a base on the Moon instead, using parts from the Gateway if possible. NASA also plans to use the PPE for a new spacecraft called Space Reactor-1 Freedom.

Orbit and operations

The Gateway was planned to orbit the Moon in a special path called a near-rectilinear halo orbit. This path would bring the station close to the Moon's north pole and then far from the south pole, finishing a loop every seven days.

It would have been the first space station that people could visit and that could work mostly by itself. This was thanks to advanced control software. The Gateway might have also helped test using resources from the Moon and asteroids for future space missions.

Modules

The Lunar Gateway was a space station planned to orbit the Moon as part of the Artemis program. It would have been built from several different parts.

The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) was meant to give power and move the station using special engines called ion thrusters. It would also help visiting spaceships.

The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) was designed to be a living space for up to four astronauts for at least 30 days. It would also control the station and let spaceships connect.

Other planned parts included ESPRIT, which would have given extra fuel and communications tools, and I-HAB, which would have given more space for astronauts to live and work. There was also a robotic system called Canadarm3 to help with repairs and building. Finally, the Crew and Science Airlock Module would have let astronauts leave the station and put scientific tools outside.

Criticism

NASA said the Gateway would help direct activities on the Moon. But many people did not agree.

Some former NASA workers had worries. One thought the Gateway would only be useful after there were places on the Moon to make fuel. He worried it could be risky to leave astronauts on the Moon or in space for too long.

Another former worker suggested skipping the Gateway. He thought they could use another rocket to launch landers and extra parts on a commercial rocket.

A former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center said building the Gateway was like making a space station to orbit the Moon. He thought they should go straight to the Moon instead.

An former astronaut who lived on the International Space Station for 200 days did not support the Gateway. He said it would slow down space exploration. He also worried about mixing crew and cargo trips again, after a sad accident with the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.

The astronaut from Apollo 11 also did not like the Gateway. He thought it was silly to send crews to a point in space to pick up a lander before going to the Moon. He liked a plan called Moon Direct, where landers would go straight from Earth’s orbit to the Moon and back.

One former director thought NASA had too many projects. He thought they might need to cut some, maybe even the Gateway, to focus better.

Other experts also shared their ideas. A geologist called the Gateway a waste of money. The founder of the Mars Society said NASA did not need a station around the Moon to go to the Moon, Mars, or asteroids. He thought building a base on the Moon would be better.

An aerospace engineer said the Gateway would not help with going back to the Moon or building a lunar base. He said it would use up fuel without any real help.

An astrophysicist wrote that orbiting the Moon would not help science much more than orbiting Earth. He said the Gateway would cost a lot of money without real benefits.

A space editor said the Gateway made NASA’s plans more expensive and complicated. He suggested canceling it to make things simpler. He also proposed canceling another part of the plan and using a different rocket part.

A newspaper writer said the Gateway would not help get back to the Moon. He noted that NASA did not use a lunar orbiting station during the Apollo missions. He suggested a reusable lunar lander could be refueled from the Moon’s surface instead.

NASA answered these criticisms. The Administrator said NASA was following its plans to build a system they could use again and again. He talked about working with partners from other countries.

The program manager for the Gateway said it would allow longer missions, give chances for research, lower risks, and let them reuse parts of the lunar lander. He explained that with the Gateway, they could make missions last longer, which would help with research and getting ready for travel to deeper space.

In July 2024, a report found that the Gateway had some technical problems NASA needed to fix. One issue was that the Gateway might not be able to stay in the right place and orbit when very heavy vehicles, like the lunar lander Starship, connected to it. Another problem was that some parts of the Gateway were heavier than planned, which could make it hard to get to the right orbit around the Moon. There were also defects in a network chip that could make the Gateway’s computers restart by accident. The report also noted that the planned 15-year lifespan might be too short for future missions to Mars.