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Science & Exploration

N° 1–2025: Media Invitation: Gateway event at Thales Alenia Space, Turin

16 January 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Thales Alenia Space invite you to a media event at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, on Thursday 20 February from 11.00 CET, to celebrate the departure of NASA’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module to a Northrop Grumman facility in the United States. The departure marks a key milestone in the Artemis programme and the development of the Gateway, the first-ever human outpost around the Moon.

The event showcases European industry’s pivotal role in the Gateway, building half the modules of humankind’s first lunar outpost, and highlights European engineers’ active contributions to the Artemis programme.

Attendees will have a final opportunity to see HALO in its integration cleanroom before its departure from Europe, visit the production area for Lunar I-Hab – ESA’s habitation module for the Gateway – and explore the Lunar I-Hab mock-up, recently used by ESA and NASA astronauts to test and refine its interior design.

Media will have the opportunity to engage with those driving the future of human space exploration, including experts from ESA, NASA, Thales Alenia Space and Northrop Grumman, and special guest ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.

Event programme:

10.30    Welcome and registration

11.00    Panel with Gateway experts

- Guided tours of the HALO cleanroom, Lunar I-Hab production area and Lunar I-Hab mock-up area in smaller groups; interview opportunities during the tour

- Opportunity for additional informal questions and filming

14.30    End of programme

(Programme timings are subject to change)

 

Participants:

  • Jon Olansen, Gateway Program Manager, NASA
  • Sean Fuller, Gateway International Partner Manager, NASA
  • Yasmin Ali, Gateway HALO Project Manager, NASA
  • Chris Johnson, Gateway HALO Deputy Project Manager, NASA
  • Sara Pastor, Lunar Group Leader, ESA
  • Matthias Maurer, ESA astronaut
  • Raffaele Mugnuolo, Head of Exploration and Orbital Infrastructure, Italian Space Agency (ASI)
  • Ryan Tintner, Vice President Civil Space Systems, Northrop Grumman
  • Dave Schiller, HALO Program Manager, Northrop Grumman
  • Giampiero Di Paolo, CEO, Thales Alenia Space Italy
  • Walter Cugno, Vice President Exploration and Science, Thales Alenia Space
  • Annamaria Piras, HALO Project Manager, Thales Alenia Space

To attend this event, please express your interest by registering at the following link https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form/ by 30 January; because the number of places is limited, ESA and Thales Alenia Space cannot guarantee all interested media will be able to join this visit.

We invite you to take this opportunity to learn more about the Gateway and Europe’s key role in the Artemis programme.

About HALO

HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) is NASA's habitation module for the Gateway, provided by prime industrial partner Northop Grumman. HALO will be the first module to form the Gateway, together with NASA's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). ESA's Lunar Link telecommunication element, provided by Thales Alenia Space in France, will be attached to HALO.

About Lunar I-Hab

Lunar I-Hab is ESA's habitation module for the Gateway, provided by Thales Alenia Space. Lunar I-Hab will be launched on the Artemis IV mission and propelled by Orion and its European Service Module to lunar orbit.

More Information

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Gateway

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Gateway_Lunar_I-Hab

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Lunar_I-Hab_mock-up_all_set

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion

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Email: media@esa.int

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About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with other four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int