November 2, 2024

NASA’s Lunar Gateway: Energizing Exploration With Powerful Solar Electric Propulsion

Gateway Initial ConfigurationGateway Initial Configuration
Artist’s rendering of Gateway in its initial configuration, featuring the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) connected to the Power and Propulsion Element. Credit: NASA

Discover the cutting-edge technology powering Gateway, humanity’s first lunar space station.

Gateway, soon to be the most powerful solar electric spacecraft, features innovative solar arrays and propulsion technology. This module supports critical Artemis missions and enhances deep space communication, setting the stage for extended human activity around the Moon.

Technicians work diligently to assemble a key power element of Gateway, the lunar space station that will become the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown.

Two Engineers Work on the Power and Propulsion Element at Maxar Space SystemsTwo Engineers Work on the Power and Propulsion Element at Maxar Space Systems
Two engineers in cleanroom suits work on the Power and Propulsion Element at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California. Credit: Maxar Space Systems

Advancements in Solar Technology and Propulsion

Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element will use the largest roll-out solar arrays ever built – together about the size of an American football field endzone – to harness the Sun’s energy for deep space exploration. The module is built by Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California, and managed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. That includes energizing xenon gas to produce the thrust needed to send Gateway from Earth to lunar orbit and keep it there for the Artemis IV, V, and VI missions. On those missions and beyond, international teams of astronauts will expand Gateway with additional living and working space, and will journey to the lunar South Pole region from Gateway.

Advanced Electric Propulsion System Thruster NASA GatewayAdvanced Electric Propulsion System Thruster NASA Gateway
A type of advanced electric propulsion system thruster that will be used on Gateway glows blue as it emits ionized xenon gas during testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Credit: NASA

Enhancing Deep Space Communication and Exploration

The Power and Propulsion Element will power Gateway’s subsystems and enable telecommunications between the lunar surface, the space station, Earth, and back again. Building on technology advancements from past successful electric propulsion missions like Psyche and DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test), the module will help NASA expand the boundaries of what’s possible in deep space.

Gateway Space Station Full ConfigurationGateway Space Station Full Configuration
An artist’s rendering of the Gateway space station, which will be humanity’s first space station around the Moon as a vital component of the Artemis missions to return humans to the lunar surface for scientific discovery and chart the path for the first human missions to Mars. Credit: NASA, Alberto Bertolin, Bradley Reynolds

Expanding Human Presence in Deep Space

NASA and its international partners will explore the scientific mysteries of deep space with Gateway, humanity’s first space station around the Moon. The international teams of astronauts living and conducting science on Gateway will be the first humans to make their home in deep space.