Last element: Thales Alenia Space will build airlock for the Gateway station

The UAE has selected Thales Alenia Space to build an airlock module for the Gateway near-lunar orbital station. The signing ceremony took place on February 4 amid uncertainty over the fate of the project.

Gateway station with the airlock (left) to which various vehicles are docked. Source: Thales Alenia Space/Briot

In January 2024, the UAE reached an agreement with NASA to build an airlock for Gateway. In exchange, the country will get a seat on one of the future missions to the station. Since then, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has considered proposals from various American and European companies and finally chose Thales Alenia Space.

The Gateway station will be placed on a nearly straight halo-orbit around the Moon and will be used as a transfer point for Artemis program missions. The airlock will allow crews to perform spacewalks, as well as place and retrieve science payloads on Gateway’s external surface. It will also provide an additional docking port for incoming vehicles.

The airlock is currently scheduled to be the last major Gateway module. It will be launched as part of the Artemis 6 mission using an SLS rocket in Block 1B modification. Thanks to its increased payload capacity, it will be able to send not only the Orion spacecraft with astronauts, but also additional cargo to the Moon.

The official contract signing announcement did not disclose the schedule of work on the airlock module. It is only reported that Thales Alenia Space plans to finish reviewing its early designs this year. Analysts estimate that Artemis 6 will be launched no earlier than 2030.

It is worth noting that the contract for the construction of the airlock was signed in a situation of considerable uncertainty regarding the fate of the Artemis program. The Trump administration is expected to revise (if not cancel entirely) much of its architecture as part of an effort to redirect the manned program to Mars. And Gateway is now at the greatest risk. A lot of people in the space community have criticized the station project before, arguing that it’s not really needed for a lunar landing.

According to Spacenews

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