NASA unveils design for new space station orbiting the Moon

The Gateway space station, scheduled to begin construction in 2025, will include multiple modules for astronauts to live and work.

By the end of this decade, humanity will have another space station in orbit: Gateway. However, Gateway will not fly in low Earth orbit like the International Space Station (ISS) or Tiangong. Instead, it will operate in orbit around the Moon, becoming the first human space station in deep space.

NASA recently released a new video showing the impressive design of Gateway, IFL Science reported on July 6. Gateway is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC). Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025 with the launch of two components of the station: the Logistics and Habitat Segment and the Power and Propulsion Segment.

The Power and Propulsion Unit will make Gateway the most powerful solar-electric spacecraft ever flown. This power is needed to keep the station in a Near-Normal Coronal Orbit (NRHO) – an orbit that is nearly perpendicular to the Moon’s orbital plane. In this orbit, Gateway can fly as close as 3,000 km from the Moon’s south pole and as far as 70,000 km from the Moon’s north pole. Astronauts will be able to stay in constant contact with Earth while working on the station.

Additionally, the spacecraft would not require much energy to enter NRHO orbit from Earth or the Moon. NASA’s newly released video also features these spacecraft, including Orion and the Human Landing System (HLS).

In the video, Orion is seen docking with the Gateway's Science and Crew Module. Orion will pair with NASA's Super Heavy rocket to launch astronauts from Earth into space. Meanwhile, the HLS will ferry astronauts to and from the lunar south pole. NASA has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin to build and deliver the Starship HLS and Blue Moon HLS.

Delays in Starship testing could delay Artemis 3’s planned September 2026 landing on the moon, the first crewed mission in decades. New analysis from the US Government Accountability Office suggests the mission could be pushed back to 2028, which would change several key milestones in the Gateway’s construction.

After Artemis 3, the Artemis 4 mission is scheduled to deliver the Lunar I-Hab module, a structure of ESA and JAXA, to the Gateway in 2028. The other modules will then be transported in turn on subsequent Artemis missions.

The first phase of construction of the Gateway station is expected to end in 2031. Gateway will not be permanently inhabited like the ISS, but astronauts will be there to plan and execute missions to the lunar surface as well as conduct scientific experiments.