Mary-Louise Hoffman
Mike Gold, vice president of the civil space business at Maxar Technologies, has said NASA is collaborating with its traditional and new international partners through a mission to put U.S. astronauts on the moon by 2024.
He wrote in a blog entry posted Monday that the company will support the Artemis program by developing a technology for use with the space agency’s planned Gateway command module to help establish a human presence on the lunar surface.
Maxar will serve as a NASA corporate partner and build the power and propulsion element of the outpost under a potential $375M contract awarded in May.
“Unlike Apollo, the Artemis strategy is to establish infrastructure around the Moon that will result in a robust ecosystem for public and private activities,” Gold noted.
“Moreover, Artemis will further develop and demonstrate key technologies, such as Solar Electric Propulsion, to take NASA to Mars.”
Gold noted that Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and India are among the countries that intend to support the mission.
