NASA selected SpaceX to deliver the first two segments of the orbiting Lunar Gateway space station on Wednesday, the second high-profile contract awarded to the private aviation manufacturer by the government agency this week.
During the newly announced flight, which is currently scheduled “no earlier than” May 2024, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the first two elements of the planned outpost as one integrated payload that includes Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO).
The Gateway Space Station, which will be about one-sixth the size of the International Space Station, is planned as an extension of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to “support research, crew, and expeditions to the lunar surface.”
Although NASA originally planned to launch the PPE and HALO segments separately on two different missiles, the agency’s inspector general wrote in a report released last year that it had decided to launch the two segments together in an effort to reduce costs. While it was initially a concern that the combined payload could be too heavy for the commercially available missiles, a NASA spokeswoman confirmed that The edge that Falcon Heavy had met all of the agency’s performance requirements.
T.he mission is said to be set to cost NASA $ 331.8 million – more than three times the price tag of a separate contract the agency awarded SpaceX earlier this week start its SPHEREx astrophysical mission.
G / O Media can receive a commission
Once the gateway is set up, a service module with important life support elements including oxygen, water, electricity and temperature control – will be launched during NASA’s second scheduled flight of its new mega-rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). That mission, known as Artemis 2, becomes the first manned mission under the Artemis programs.