Jane Edwards
Boeing has introduced concepts for its deep space habitat and transport platforms designed to help NASA advance manned exploration missions to the moon and Mars.
The company said Monday the proposed habitat called Deep Space Gateway would fly aboard the Space Launch System to facilitate scientific research in cislunar space and help open commercial and government partnerships for future lunar missions.
The gateway would be equipped with a Solar Electric Propulsion platform and would use a docking system to host the proposed Deep Space Transport vehicle.
“The ability to simultaneously launch humans and cargo on SLS would allow us to assemble the gateway in four launches in the early 2020s,†said Pete McGrath, director of global sales and marketing for space exploration division at Boeing.
The Deep Space Transport vehicle will work to bring astronauts to Mars and field a lander to facilitate surface, robotic and scientific missions.
Boeing noted that the vehicle would have its own SEP system and a habitat that will work to safeguard crews from harsh conditions in deep space.
The company develops the habitat and the transport vehicle under NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Technologies program and as part of an SEP technology development initiative within the agency’s space technology mission directorate.
