Aerospace Companies Awarded Lander Contracts – US Could Use Lunar Vehicle

ARTEMIS & GATEWAY – KEY IN SPACE AND EARTH

By Grant Anderson

The past several years have seen a marked increase in the level of attention of the importance of space across a wide spectrum of U.S. national interests and what the private sector space economy promises for our future on-orbit and beyond. New and ambitious goals have been established, Federal budgets have been pumped up to support these goals, new space-focused agencies have been created, and companies both large and small are tackling these new challenges with great energy and enthusiasm.

The fact is, that here and now in 2020, the world finds itself engaged in a new space competition – a new competition involving national economic and security interests, high stakes global prestige, and a rapid growth in technological innovation. In this 21st Century competition, not only are new players entering the competitive arena – but the models and the markets regarding space technology, access and exploration are changing as well. Most critically for the U.S. is the need to continue to encourage the power of the “New Space” economy to stay competitive and agile in space.

It is for these reasons that inspiring space programs like NASA’s Artemis need to be funded and pursued. Artemis is the initiative created with the goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2024, establishing a sustainable presence, and preparing for missions to Mars. Additionally, NASA’s sustainable presence initiative – known as the Artemis Base Camp – will make use of a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV), a habitable mobility platform (larger, habitable rover), and a lunar foundation surface habitat.

Part of the Artemis program is Gateway – which is intended to provide architecture for future moon missions and which, as envisioned, will be a “permanent staging point for lunar exploration.”

NASA also sees Gateway as important to prepare for a trip to Mars. According to NASA, “NASA shall establish a Gateway to enable a sustained presence around and on the Moon and to develop and deploy critical infrastructure required for operations on the lunar surface and at other deep space destinations.” NASA also indicates that “Gateway shall be utilized to enable, demonstrate and prove technologies that are enabling for lunar missions and that feed forward to Mars as well as other deep space destinations.”

While certainly ambitious, Artemis and Gateway represent a bold and timely vision for America, one that is necessary in space, but also needed at home on the ground. The truth is that even though America has led in space for over a half-century, space is becoming an increasingly contested domain. Our position in space is being increasingly challenged in a number of ways – from our commercial interests, to modern communications, to national defense. An ambitious national endeavor in space – such as that represented by Artemis and Gateway – is precisely the kind of initiative we need to expand our horizons, stimulate innovation, spur an American space renaissance and keep us ahead in the game.