NASA and Northrop Grumman, a manufacturer of composite structures, have finalized their contract to build the habitation module for astronauts visiting a space station orbiting the moon.
Under the US$935 million contract, Northrop Grumman will be responsible for attaching and testing its Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) with a solar electric ion propulsion module to NASA’s Gateway way station and outpost.
‘NASA is building the infrastructure to expand human exploration further out into the solar system than ever before, including Gateway, the lunar space station that will help us make inspirational scientific discoveries at and around the Moon,’ said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. ‘The HALO is a critical component of Gateway, and this exciting announcement today brings us one step closer to landing American boots on both the Moon and Mars.’
HALO’s design is based on Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, which has completed 15 resupply missions to the International Space Station to date.
This story uses material from Northrop Grumman, with editorial changes made by Materials Today.
