NASA is planning to cancel its proposal to place a space station in lunar orbit and instead use its parts to build a 20-billion-dollar base on the Moon’s surface within the next seven years, according to its new chief Jared Isaacman.
Isaacman, who took charge of the agency in December, made the announcement during an event at NASA headquarters in Washington, where he also explained several changes to the agency’s main Moon program, Artemis Program. He said it should not surprise anyone that the Lunar Gateway project is being paused in its current form while the agency focuses on building infrastructure that supports long-term operations on the Moon’s surface.
The Lunar Gateway station, which has already been partly built with contractors Northrop Grumman and Maxar Technologies, was originally planned to stay in orbit around the Moon. However, Isaacman said that even though there are technical and schedule challenges, the equipment and international partnerships can still be used to support new goals on the Moon’s surface.
Lunar Gateway was supposed to work as a research station and a place where astronauts would move from the station to a lander before going down to the Moon. Now, the recent changes introduced by Isaacman are reshaping billions of dollars in contracts under the Artemis program and forcing companies to adjust quickly, especially as China continues to move forward with its own plan to land on the Moon by 2030.
