WASHINGTON – NASA awarded SpaceX a contract on February 9 for the launch of the first two elements of its lunar Gateway on a Falcon Heavy in 2024.
NASA will use a Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) modules, which are destined for the near-linear halo orbit around the moon. The contract with SpaceX is valued at $ 331.8 million for the launch and “other mission-related costs.”
NASA originally planned to launch PPE and HALO separately, and then the two modules will have to dock around the moon autonomously. The award to Maxar Technologies for the PPE in May 2019 gave the company responsibility for arranging the launch of the module and testing it in space before transferring it to NASA.
A year later, however, NASA reconsidered the approach. Agency officials said the combination of the two modules and their launch would save the cost of one launch, and that the need for a service module on HALO to prevent power and propulsion during transport to the moon would be eliminated. . Combining the two modules on the ground also reduced the risk by eliminating the need for autonomous docking in space.
“We saved a lot of money by putting it together on a single launch vehicle, as well as the technical and operational risk to the program,” said Doug Loverro, then NASA’s co-administrator of human reconnaissance and operations.
When NASA announced the revised approach in May 2020, it said it determined that there was at least one company that could support the launch of the combined Gateway elements, but did not disclose it. However, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy vehicle emerged as the leading candidate, given the performance requirements for the mission.
The changing plans for the Gateway have led to criticism from NASA’s Office of Inspector General. A November 10 report states that the change in launch plans for the two Gateway elements has increased the cost of the PPE due to technical changes, an ‘increased’ launch risk and potential shortcomings since the PPE, which will affect its electric propulsion system used to go to lunar orbit will also have to carry the HALO module.
The report also says that NASA would launch the Gateway modules in May 2024, six months later what the agency said earlier. The contract announcement on February 9 confirmed that the launch was not scheduled for May 2024. The report notes that the revised launch date means the Gateway would not be able to support the Artemis 3 lunar landing mission that NASA planned to fly with. end of 2024, but the schedule was in jeopardy due to other issues, such as limited funding for the development of lunar landers, and is likely to be revisited by the new government.
The value of the launch contract is almost three times higher than the NASA awarded to SpaceX in February 2020 for the Falcon Heavy launch of its Psyche asteroid mission, with a total cost of $ 117 million. Although the Psyche mission is likely to use a standard Falcon Heavy vehicle, the lunar Gateway launch may require a new expanded cargo box, which SpaceX is developing for national safety missions, along with special pre-processing.