NASA Picks Colorado-Based Company Maxar To Build First Segment Of Orbital Outpost
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - NASA has selected a Colorado-based company to develop and build the first segment of Gateway – an orbital outpost designed to support returning humans to the surface of the Moon by 2024. Maxar Technologies, which is headquartered in Westminster, will create the power and propulsion element (PPE) for Gateway.
"The power and propulsion element is a key component to NASA's overall plans to land American astronauts on the surface of the Moon by 2024, and will be the first segment of the Gateway tested in space," Maxar officials said in a statement released Thursday.
The PPE will provide power, maneuvering, attitude control, communications systems and initial docking capabilities. It is targeted to launch in 2022.
The Gateway spacecraft will eventually include habitation, logistics and airlock capabilities and provide access to the entire surface of the Moon, according to NASA. Lockheed Martin and Boeing are among the aerospace companies designing and testing habitation prototypes.
NASA hopes to launch the habitation element in 2024. The crew aboard the Gateway could live and work in deep space for up to 30 to 60 days at a time.
Maxar bought Westminster-based DigitalGlobe last year. The company now oversees commercial satellites, space robotics and digital imaging. Maxar has a long history of collaborating with NASA.
