NASA is shifting its focus in the Artemis program, moving away from a lunar orbiting space station to constructing a base directly on the moon’s surface. The change in plans was announced by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was sworn in last December.
The agency will repurpose components originally intended for the Lunar Gateway to build the $20 billion lunar base over the next seven years. This move comes as the US participates in a renewed space race with Russia and China, aiming to establish a long-term human presence on the moon.
Alongside the base development, NASA plans to increase robotic missions to the Moon and is also developing a nuclear-powered spacecraft, named Space Reactor 1 Freedom, for a future mission to Mars. The overall goal is to not only return humans to the lunar surface but to enable them to live and work there.