--- title: "NASA Picks SpaceX to Launch Crew Quarters of Lunar Gateway Station" description: "NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch the first parts of its Lunar Gateway, with a Falcon Heavy rocket launching no sooner than May 2024." date: "2021-02-10" modified: "2021-02-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-spacex-crew-quarters-lunar-gateway" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "Falcon Heavy" - "gateway" - "lunar gateway" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # NASA Picks SpaceX to Launch Crew Quarters of Lunar Gateway Station ![NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch the first parts of its Lunar Gateway, with a Falcon Heavy rocket launching no sooner than May 2024.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Lunar Gateway NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch the first parts of the Lunar Gateway, a crewed outpost about a tenth the size of the International Space Station. The plan is for it to orbit the Moon — where it will be a stepping stone for future Artemis missions to the lunar surface. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a reusable heavy-lift rocket that has only launched three times since 2018, will carry NASA's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) from launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no sooner than May 2024, according to the agency. It's a major coup for SpaceX — which will get paid a whopping $331.8 million for the project — and potentially a huge step toward sending humans back to the Moon. ## Stepping Stone The PPE is a spacecraft that will allow the outpost to communicate with the Earth, control attitudes, and push the Gateway into various lunar orbits. HALO is where astronauts will actually spend time while waiting to get down to the lunar surface. It will also serve as the docking hub and support science investigations as well as supplementing life support systems aboard Orion, the agency's spacecraft designed to ferry astronauts to the Gateway. If all goes well, the first crewed mission of the Artemis program, Artemis 2, is scheduled to launch in 2023 and carry four astronauts around the Moon. The mission sets the stage for Artemis 3, the first crewed flight that includes a Moon landing scheduled for 2024, with two of the astronauts staying behind on board the Gateway. **READ MORE:** [NASA Awards Contract to Launch Initial Elements for Lunar Outpost]() \[NASA\] **More on the Gateway:** [*NASA HIRES SPACEX TO SUPPLY LUNAR GATEWAY SPACE STATION*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()