NASA Signs A Deal Of $1bn With Northrop Grumman For Its Lunar Gateway

The space agency has signed deal of $1bn with the American aerospace and defense technology company Northrop Grumman who will build a Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) for its Lunar gateway.The studio apartment will be built which will have room for three vehicles. The contract will also require the aerospace apartment to integrate the HALO module with power and propulsion element. Maxar Technologies is developing the PPE.

HALO will encompass crew and three vehicle ports. It will be used as a station for the visiting aircrafts. The design of the HALO module is derived from Grumman’s Cygnus freight. Cygnus freighter is used to carry cargo to the International Space Station. The module won’t be as large as the International Space Station but can be expanded with additional modules.

The HALO module will play as a host to NASA Orion spacecraft, Lunar spacecrafts, and cargo vehicles. Describing the module, NASA stated that is the size of “small studio apartment”. Earlier in 2020, before the new deal had signed a contract of $187m to design the module.

NASA will conduct critical design review in 2022. The delivery of the HALO module to the launch site is expected to come by 2024. The HALO module is scheduled to launch in November 2024 which will be launched on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket Bill Nelson, the Administrator of NASA said, HALO module is critical to the Lunar gateway. He said, this brings Americans one step closer to land their boots on Moon and Mars.