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NASA Prepares Gateway Lunar Space Station for Journey to Moon

✇Artemis – NASA
By:Briana R. Zamora
25 February 2025 at 07:03
A side view of the Power and Propulsion Element for Gateway in a cleanroom at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California. The spacecraft is tilted at an angle, revealing a gold-colored tank housed inside the large cylindrical structure. The exterior is lined with wiring and connectors. Technicians in cleanroom attire work below.
The Propulsion Bus Module of Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element undergoes assembly and installations at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California.
Maxar Space Systems

NASA’s Artemis IV astronauts will be the first to inhabit the Gateway lunar space station, opening the door to greater exploration of the Moon and paving the way to Mars. Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, which will make the station the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown, takes shape at Maxar Space Systems. In lunar orbit, Gateway will allow NASA to conduct unique science and exploration while preparing astronauts to go to the Red Planet.

Technicians install key hardware on the element’s Propulsion Bus Module following installation of both electric propulsion and chemical propulsion control modules. The image highlights a propellant tank exposed on the right, positioned within the central cylinder of the element.  

The Power and Propulsion Element will launch with Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) ahead of NASA’s Artemis IV mission. During Artemis IV, V, and VI, international crews of astronauts will assemble the lunar space station around the Moon and embark on expeditions to the Moon’s South Pole region.

The Power and Propulsion Element is managed out of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and built by Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California.

Gateway is an international collaboration to establish humanity’s first lunar space station as a central component of the Artemis architecture designed to return humans to the Moon for scientific discovery and chart a path for the first human missions to Mars.

The Power and Propulsion Element of Gateway is shown being assembled inside a clean room at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California. The large cylindrical structure has numerous wires and components attached to its black exterior paneling. A reflective gold-colored fuel tank is seen inside the main clylinder. Engineers in cleanroom suits work around the spacecraft, inspecting and assembling its systems.
The Propulsion Bus Module of Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element undergoes assembly and installations at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California.
Maxar Space Systems
An artist’s rendering of the Gateway lunar space station, including its Power and Propulsion Element, shown here with its solar arrays deployed. Gateway will launch its initial elements to lunar orbit ahead of the Artemis IV mission.
NASA/Alberto Bertolin
Artist's rendering of the Gateway lunar space station in its initial stage, featuring the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) joined with the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). PPE is depicted using its Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) system, with blue plumes of ionized xenon gas streaming from the spacecraft. The Moon and Earth are visible in the background.
An artist’s rendering of Gateway with the Power and Propulsion Element’s advanced thrusters propelling the lunar space station to the Moon.
NASA/Alberto Bertolin
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Lunar Space Station Module Will Journey to US ahead of NASA’s Artemis IV Moon Mission

✇Artemis – NASA
By:Briana R. Zamora
13 February 2025 at 07:50

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

A large cylindrical module is suspended by red straps as it is lowered onto a stand in a cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Engineers and technicians in white lab coats and helmets observe and guide the process from an elevated platform. The cleanroom features metal walkways and bright overhead lighting.
Technicians at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, lower Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) onto a stand in the cleanroom.
Thales Alenia Space

When NASA’s Artemis IV astronauts journey to the Moon, they will make the inaugural visit to Gateway, humanity’s first space station in lunar orbit. Shown here, technicians carefully guide HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost)—a foundational element of Gateway—onto a stand in the cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. The element’s intricate structure, designed to support astronauts and science in lunar orbit, has entered the cleanroom after successfully completing a series of rigorous environmental stress tests.

In the cleanroom, technicians will make final installations before preparing the module for transport to the United States, a key milestone on its path to launch. This process includes installing and testing valves and hatches, performing leak checks, and integrating external secondary structures. Once these steps are finished, the module will be packaged for shipment to Gilbert, Arizona, where Northrop Grumman will complete its outfitting.

Gateway's Habitation and Logistics Outpost, a large cylindrical module, is suspended by red straps in a cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Engineers and technicians in white lab coats and helmets observe and guide the process. The cleanroom features metal walkways and bright overhead lighting.
Technicians at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, oversee the HALO module’s transfer to the cleanroom.
Thales Alenia Space

As one of Gateway’s four pressurized modules, HALO will provide Artemis astronauts with space to live, work, conduct scientific research, and prepare for missions to the lunar surface. The module will also support internal and external science payloads, including a space weather instrument suite attached via a Canadian Space Agency Small Orbital Replacement Unit Robotic Interface, host the Lunar Link communications system developed by European Space Agency, and offer docking ports for visiting vehicles, including lunar landers and NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

Developed in collaboration with industry and international partners, Gateway is a cornerstone of NASA’s Artemis campaign to advance science and exploration on and around the Moon in preparation for the next giant leap: the first human missions to Mars.

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