Online sources report that the American space agency NASA has selected the first contractor involved in the construction of the Lunar Gateway space station, which should appear in the future near the Moon. Maxar Technologies will develop the power plant and some other elements of the future station.
This was announced by NASA Director Jim Bridenstine, who emphasized that this time the astronauts’ stay on the Moon will be really long. He also described the future station, which will be located in a high elliptical orbit, as a kind of reusable “command module”.
In accordance with NASA's plans to land on the Moon in 2024, the station will be used as an intermediate base. First, astronauts will be delivered from Earth to the lunar station, and only then, using a special module, they will be able to move to the surface of the satellite and back. It is worth noting that the Lunar Gateways project began to be developed under President Obama, but then it was considered as a springboard that would help astronauts get to Mars. However, with the coming to power of the new president, the project was refocused on the exploration of the Moon.
As for the announced partnership with Maxar Technologies, we are talking about a grant of $375 million. Company representatives say that the project will be implemented jointly with Blue Origin and Draper. This could mean that Blue Origin's heavy-duty New Glenn launch vehicle will be used to send the propulsion system, which weighs approximately 5 tons. The choice of launch vehicle should be made in the next year and a half. According to the planned plan, the power plant should be sent into space in 2022.
Source: 3dnews.ru