SPACE: Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX will take charge of two modules associated with the small lunar base
NASA has made its choice and it will be SpaceX. The company’s Elon Musk is participating again in the project for the future lunar space station by installing the lunar outpost LOP-G (orbit Portal circumlunar Gateway), reports Numerama. For that, it will be necessary to forward all the elements used for its construction.
In detail, SpaceX will take care of two modules, NASA said in its press release. There is the PPE (Power and Propulsion Element), the element of power and propulsion, which will provide the small space station with its energy supply and the means to move. The Housing and Logistics Outpost (HALO) is also part of the mission for SpaceX. It is in this module that the astronauts will take place.
Not before May 2024
The mission is not scheduled before May 2024 specifies NASA. It is the Falcon Heavy rocket that will be requisitioned to send the material into space. Located in orbit around the natural satellite, the lunar outpost LOP-G will serve as a base for robots and astronauts who will explore the Moon. It is first American cosmonauts who will occupy the base before the international partners send their astronauts, recalls Numerama.
This is not the first contract given to SpaceX by NASA on this lunar project. The American company was already chosen last March to supply the base with food, scientific equipment and spare parts. The new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will be responsible for this mission.
