Speaking Thursday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, US Vice President Michael Pence announced that the US government expects to send astronauts to the planned lunar orbital station by the end of 2024 in order to establish a permanent human presence on Earth's satellite.
The current US administration regards the Moon as a "key point" for further space exploration. Pence noted that in the US "active development is underway regarding the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway project to create the first lunar orbital station." According to the vice president, the creation of the station "will be a critical condition for the deployment of an advanced lunar outpost, from which further missions to Mars will be carried out."
"Last year, NASA began working with US developers to create a unique electric propulsion system for the Gateway," commented Pence on development progress.
In addition, Pence spoke about the importance of using the new Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft, which will play a key role in the new exploration of the moon and subsequent exploration of the rest of the solar system. Recall that the first joint test launch of SLS and Orion in unmanned mode is scheduled for 2019-2020. It was noted that the early completion of the development of SLS and Orion will push private companies SpaceX and Boeing to complete the development of their manned vehicles, which will be used to deliver American astronauts to the ISS, faster.
The vice president also noted that the US government is working with Congress to allocate $ 500 million to move the station's development into production.
“We are only a few years away from the launch of the first Gateway building blocks into space. In addition, active work is underway to send American astronauts to the Lunar Orbital Platform by the end of 2024,”said Pence.
“We want to go back to the moon. However, this time we will not be satisfied with just leaving traces on it. It is time for the US to take advantage of what we have learned over the decades and establish a permanent presence on and around the moon,”he said.
The desire to create a circumlunar space station became known in 2017, but negotiations on the possibility of creating an international circumlunar space station began back in 2013. Previously, it was assumed that the station will be named Deep Space Gateway. After a while, they decided to change the name to Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway.
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At the beginning of April, it became known that RSC Energia proposed to manufacture a lock module for a new circumlunar orbital station, but it was proposed to divide the financing of the development between the American and European parties.
Nikolay Khizhnyak