A big announcement about the NASA Lunar Gateway came out on Friday June 5th, 2020.  NASA officially awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) for the preliminary design and development of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO). The plan includes placing the module in lunar orbit as the crew module of the NASA Gateway.  The current contract adds $187 million dollars to fund the project through the end of 2020 and the preliminary design review to modify the Cygnus design.

NASA started grooming potential technologies years ago.  NASA previously awarded contracts in 2016 under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships 2 (NextSTEP-2) program.  Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop Grumman, received one of six awards for NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program to study habitation modules. NextSTEP represents a public-private partnership model seeking commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support human spaceflight missions.

The selected companies for NextSTEP-2:

  • Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas
  • Boeing of Pasadena, Texas
  • Lockheed Martin of Denver
  • Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia
  • Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado
  • NanoRacks of Webster, Texas

NASA subsequently shared it intended to use that NextSTEP program, formally known as NextSTEP Appendix A, for selecting the HALO contractor.  NASA and Northrop Grumman plan to modify Cygnus and issue a contract change later this year for the fabrication, assembly, and delivery of the HALO module. 

2015_10_20 Cygnus Spacecraft Loaded with Supplies Credit NASA

The HALO design stems from the Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus spacecraft which delivers supplies to the International Space Station.  Northrop Grumman acquired Orbital Sciences Corporation and assumed the NASA COTS contract delivering supplies to the ISS.  

Artist’s concept of the Gateway power and propulsion and Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, in orbit around the Moon. Credits: NASA

Cygnus evolved

So far, Cygnus successfully completed 13 successful missions to the ISS.  For Cygnus to meet NASA’s needs, Cygnus needs a few upgrades.  Up to this point, Cygnus did not venture outside of Low Earth Orbit.  The Lunar Gateway will be exposed to higher levels of radiation since its orbit lays beyond the Earth’s Magnetic field.  Northrop Grumman’s supped up Cygnus spacecraft includes added command and control capabilities and including environmental control and life support systems(ECLS).  HALO(and the rest of Gateway) allows NASA’s Orion spacecraft capabilities, can sustain up to four astronauts for up to 30 days.

2019 4 Cygnus docking with ISS Credit NASA

Cygnus, although manufactured in the US gets some major parts of the spacecraft from outside the USA.  Northrop Grumman’s existing Cygnus production line for manufacturing Cygnus service modules are manufactured at Northrop Grumman’s headquarters in Dulles, Virginia.  The pressurized cargo modules come from Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy.

Northrop Grumman’s exclusive contracting agreement with Thales for pressurized cargo modules served them well over the past decade. No issues associated with the craft’s performance surfaced which might have something do do with the heritage of Cygnus itself.  The Cygnus cargo compartment design is a derivative of the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules built by Thales.  The MPLM launched inside the payload bay of the space shuttle along with tons of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station nestled inside.

Thales Alenia Space also has experience with several permanent models of the International Space Station.  This additional heritage is a plus since NASA has limited escape options while orbiting the Moon.  

“This existing contractual relationship (between Northrop Grumman and Thales Alenia Space) and its associated production pedigree are critical to timely development progress and problem resolution, which are substantive mitigations to schedule risk,” NASA wrote.

According to NASA’s sole-source justification document, the Gateway’s Minimal Habitation Module uses a pressurized module with the same 10-foot (3.07-meter) diameter as the Cygnus cargo compartment, allowing the spacecraft to fit inside the payload fairing envelope of existing commercial rockets.

Northrop Grumman Awarded NASA Contract to Provide First Crew Module for Artemis Program Gateway

Now, however, HALO is planned to be launched as part of a merged launch. The second contract action expected should be done by the end of 2020 for Northrop Grumman to make and assemble HALO for integration with the Gateway’s power and propulsion element (PPE) by the end of 2023. Maxar is providing the PPE under contract with NASA and originally would have launched in advance of the HALO.

 NASA’s newest plan includes these first two elements of the Gateway, HALO, and PPE, launched together in 2023. This recent update to the agency’s plans comes from a recommendation of NASA’s program status assessment.  By mating the two modules together on Earth and launching together, NASA indicated the cost and technical risks reduction likely enhances the likelihood of mission success by eliminating the two elements doing docking in space. 

The HALO design is derived from Northrop Grumman’s highly successful Cygnus spacecraft, a human-capable vehicle that delivers supplies, spare equipment and scientific experiments to the International Space Station with 13 successful missions to date.

“The success of our Cygnus spacecraft and its active production line helps to enable Northrop Grumman to deliver the HALO module,” said Steve Krein, vice president, civil and commercial satellites, Northrop Grumman. “HALO is an essential element in NASA’s long-term exploration of deep-space, and our HALO program team will continue its work in building and delivering this module in partnership with NASA.”

Building off of Cygnus’ heritage pressurized cargo module, Northrop Grumman added command and control capabilities, including environmental control and life support systems, which, when coupled with NASA’s Orion spacecraft capabilities, can sustain up to four astronauts for up to 30 days as they embark on, and return from, expeditions to the lunar surface. By leveraging the active Cygnus production line, Northrop Grumman has the unique capability of providing an affordable and reliable HALO module in the timeframe needed to support NASA’s Artemis program. 

Some more Technical Details:

HALO serves as both a crew habitat and a docking hub for spacecraft.  Visiting spacecraft can dock with one of the three docking ports.   According to the NextSTEP-2_Appendix_A_Habitat_Systems:

Habitation

Under Habitation, the concept studies could include:
• Provide habitable volume for crew and logistics.
• Along with Orion, provide for an initial crew of four a stay of 30-60 days in DRO.
• Enhancements and testing of deep space habitation systems such as Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), such as atmosphere revitalization and monitoring, water processing, lighting, and fire detection
Operations & Environment

Under Operations and Environments, the concept studies could include:
• NASA would like an operational lifetime in cislunar space of at least 15 years.
• Provide airlock/docking node capability for cislunar missions and operate as an independent spacecraft if other vehicles are not present. Support the ability to operate with the ARV bus
• Have the facility to support two crew-members in conducting multiple 8 hour Extra-vehicular Activities (EVAs) without depress of the pressurized module or Orion.
• Support test and/or use options of exploration EVA capability and Airlock capability
• Have the ability to support visiting vehicles to dock (Orion, logistics resupply, Asteroid Redirect
Vehicle, etc.)
• Long duration shakedown mission validation of elements, systems, operations and human health
and performance for missions beyond the Earth-Moon system.

Artist’s illustration of the Gateway in orbit around the moon, with the Power and Propulsion Element, a habitation module, and a visiting cargo resupply craft and Orion crew capsule. Credit: NASA

https://www.stellarsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IAC19_5381_Gateway_AQ_Strategy.pdf

https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/703432.pdf

About The Author


Bill D'Zio

Bill D’Zio

Co-Founder at WestEastSpace.com

Bill founded WestEastSpace.com after returning to China in 2019 to be supportive of his wife’s career. Moving to China meant leaving the US rocket/launch industry behind, as the USA and China don’t see eye to eye on cooperation in space. Bill has an engineering degree and is an experienced leader of international cross-functional teams with experience in evaluating, optimizing and awarding sub-contracts for complex systems. Bill has worked with ASME Components, Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) for use in launch vehicles, satellites, aerospace nuclear, and industrial applications.

Bill provides consulting services for engineering, supply chain, and project management.

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