NASA will cancel plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and instead use its components to build a $20 billion base on the lunar surface over the next seven years, new NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Tuesday.
Isaacman, who was sworn in in December, made the announcement at the opening of a daylong event at NASA headquarters in Washington, where he also outlined a series of changes to NASA's flagship moon program, Artemis.
"It should come as no surprise that we will be suspending the Lunar Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports continued operations on the lunar surface," Isaacman told delegates at the event. "
The Lunar Gateway Station was built primarily by contractors Northrop Grumman and Vantor Corporation (formerly Maxar Corporation) and is intended to be a space station docked in lunar orbit. Repurposing the spacecraft for a base on the lunar surface would not be simple.
"While there are some practical challenges in terms of hardware and schedule, we can repurpose equipment and the commitment of international partners to support the lunar surface and other program goals," Isaacman said.
The Lunar Gateway is both a research platform and a staging post that astronauts will use to board a lunar lander before descending to the lunar surface.
The changes Isaacman has made to America's flagship moon landing program in recent weeks are reshaping billions of dollars worth of contracts under the Artemis program.