The Gateway concept

The lunar Gateway is to be the first international space station around the Moon and will support the most distant human space missions ever attempted.

The lunar outpost is being assembled for operation around the Moon, providing a place to live and work in lunar orbit.

Whereas the International Space Station orbits Earth, the Gateway will orbit the Moon, acting as a base for scientific research of the deep space environment, a host for technology development and demonstration experiments, as well as a staging post supporting exploration missions to the lunar surface and beyond.

In addition to payloads that will fly to this new space station, ESA is contributing three key elements to the Gateway: Lunar I-Hab, Lunar View and Lunar Link. Together, these provide a habitable space for astronauts, refuelling, storage and telecommunication capabilities, and windows to view space and the Moon.

The Gateway will be assembled this decade, built as part of the Artemis programme in an international collaboration between ESA, NASA and the space agencies of Canada (CSA), Japan (JAXA) and the United Arab Emirates (MBRSC).

Updated April 2024 to reflect name changes.