Overview
- NASA, which unveiled its Ignition strategy on Tuesday, said it will suspend the lunar-orbit Gateway in its current form and refocus on building infrastructure on the Moon’s surface.
- The agency outlined a three-step path that starts with up to 30 robotic landings from 2027, then adds early semi-habitable systems with regular logistics, and finally installs heavy assets for continuous human presence.
- Officials said they will reuse suitable Gateway hardware and lean on international partners, with Italy’s space agency slated to provide multiuse surface habitats in the later phase.
- Artemis II is nearing launch with the SLS rocket back on Pad 39B and a window of April 1–6, carrying Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen for a lunar flyby.
- NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy plan to send Space Reactor‑1 Freedom to Mars by 2028 to demonstrate nuclear‑electric propulsion, a technology designed to move heavier payloads where sunlight is too weak for solar power.