NASA picks SpaceX to deliver segments of the Gateway lunar orbiter for the Artemis program

NASA has awarded SpaceX a $331.8 million contract to take the first two parts of its Gateway space station to space, which will be orbiting the moon as part of the Artemis program that aims to establish a permanent human presence in space. NASA plans to send a man and a woman to the moon by 2024 as part of the program.

Zoom In: The Gateway space station is expected to be a permanent lunar habitat. It will orbit the moon and be one-sixth the size of the ISS, housing a command center, workspaces, and sleeping quarters within it. The astronauts will be transported to the moon via a lunar lander.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket of SpaceX will ferry the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) into space.