WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman and the Canadian Space Agency said this week they will adapt what they had been working on for NASA’s lunar Gateway into applications for a planned lunar base, albeit with few specifics.
Northrop Grumman announced Aug. 4 that it will reuse hardware and technologies it had developed for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, module for the Gateway for a series of lander missions.
The company said it is planning three Lunar Infrastructure Demo, or LID, missions to the lunar surface carrying power, data and mechanical interfaces developed for the Gateway. “By demonstrating how key surface assets can remain powered, protected and connected through lunar night and shadow, these missions will give NASA critical data to shape Artemis surface campaigns and long-duration lunar operations,” the company stated.
“Our ready-to-fly, reliable HALO technologies allow NASA to move faster, putting in place robust infrastructure that can endure the lunar night and establish a strong blueprint for a future Moon Base,” said David Schiller, vice president of civil space and sciences at Northrop Grumman, in the statement.
The announcement, though, did not provide any details about when the LID missions would fly or what specific payloads would be tested. The company released an illustration showing three identical landers on the lunar surface: one with a vertical solar array, another with a circular array like those Northrop has used on its Cygnus and other spacecraft, and a third with an indeterminate payload.
