The Gateway Logistics Services (acronymized as GLS) will be a series of uncrewed spaceflights to the

Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a planned space station which is to be assembled in orbit around the Moon. The Gateway is intended to serve as a communication hub, science laboratory, and habitation module for astronauts as part ...

space station, with the purpose of providing logistical services to the Gateway. Overseen by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's Gateway Logistics Element, the flights will be operated by commercial providers, contracted by the agency in support of crewed expeditions to the Gateway made under the

Artemis program The Artemis program is a Exploration of the Moon, Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally established in 2017 via Space Policy Directive 1. The program's stated long-ter ...

. ,

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

is the only company contracted to provide the services.

Development

The Gateway Logistics Services were modeled after previous ventures by NASA with commercial providers, such as the

Commercial Resupply Services Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a series of flights awarded by NASA for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on commercially operated spacecraft. The first phase of CRS contracts (CRS-1) were sign ...

to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

and the

Commercial Crew Program The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides Private spaceflight, commercially operated human spaceflight, crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between t ...

. Through the services, the Gateway will be provided with supplies,

scientific instrument A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

s, and elements of the

architecture. NASA first sought input from the private sector on a procurement framework through a Sources Sought Notice published in October 2018. After a framework was approved by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in December 2018, the agency published a draft for its request for proposals for resupply services to the Gateway on June 14, 2019. Shortly following an industry day at the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

for potential bidders on June 26, the final version of the request was published on August 16. Procuring

fixed-price contract A fixed-price contract is a type of contract for the supply of goods or services, such that the agreed payment amount will not subsequently be adjusted to reflect the resources used, costs incurred or time expended by the contractor. This contract ...

s worth US$7 billion in total over fifteen years, the request detailed requirements for American commercial providers to be able to deliver spacecraft capable of carrying at least of pressurized cargo and of unpressurized cargo to the Gateway on each flight, and disposing of an equivalent mass at the end of the flight. Spacecraft were also required to be able to last up to a year docked at the Gateway; the draft request originally required durability of three years, though it was reduced to allow for "commercial innovation". The request also offered a minimum of two missions to the Gateway for potential bidders. Sierra Nevada Space Systems publicized their interest during a November 2019 event celebrating progress on their Dream Chaser Cargo System, with the company's Vice President, Steve Lindsey, noting that spacecraft met the requirements for pressurized and unpressurized cargo mass. In March 2020, NASA announced

as the first GLS contractor, with the company simultaneously unveiling the Dragon XL spacecraft to be used in their flights to the Gateway. The spacecraft is capable of carrying of pressurized and unpressurized cargo in total to the Gateway.

Missions

The Gateway Logistics Services are managed by the

's Gateway Logistics Element, which began operation in late 2019. Each mission procured under the services is expected to last at least six months docked at the Gateway. SpaceX will embark on at least two missions to the Gateway – lasting between six and twelve months each – using its Dragon XL spacecraft, delivering scientific instruments and sample collection tools that astronauts will utilize during extravehicular activities on the lunar surface, along with other supplies for both Gateway and HLS crew. Dragon XL will be launched to the Gateway via the

Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...

rocket, with the first mission expected to launch before

Artemis 4 Artemis IV is a planned mission of the NASA-led Artemis program. The mission is proposed to include the fourth use of a Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle, sending an Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft with four astronauts to the Lunar ...

in 2028.

References

Sources # # Citations

External links

Lunar Gateway
at

{{Moon spacecraft 2020s in spaceflight Artemis program Lunar Gateway Private spaceflight NASA programs

Development

Missions

See also

References

External links