Lunar Gateway will become NASA's base by 2033 for $20 billion 0 10

The agency is canceling plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and instead will use its components to build a base, said NASA head Jared Isaacman.

The $20 billion base on the Moon's surface will be developed over the next seven years, the new head of the agency reported.

Isaacman, who took office at the agency in December, made this statement at the opening of a one-day event at NASA's headquarters in Washington, where he outlined a number of changes he is making to the agency's flagship lunar program, Artemis.

"No one should be surprised that we are pausing the Gateway project in its current form and focusing on the infrastructure that supports sustainable operations on the Moon's surface," Isaacman told the event's delegates.

The Lunar Gateway station, mostly already built with the involvement of contractors Northrop Grumman and Vantor (formerly Maxar), was supposed to be a space station in lunar orbit. Repurposing the spacecraft for use as a base on the Moon's surface is no easy task.

"Despite some very real issues with equipment and schedule, we can repurpose equipment and commitments from international partners to support surface exploration program goals and other tasks," Isaacman said.

Lunar Gateway was designed to serve as both a research platform and a transfer station from which astronauts would transfer to lunar landers before descending to the Moon's surface.

The changes made by Isaacman to the U.S. flagship lunar program in recent weeks are leading to a review of billions of dollars in contracts under the Artemis program.

This is forcing companies to rush to adapt to the new urgency as China moves toward its own lunar landing in 2030.