Keeping the lights on for the lunar Gateway HALO module

Humanity is at the dawn of a new era of exploration, with our eyes once again set on the Moon. Over half a century after humanity first stepped on its surface, humans will be walking on the Moon again thanks to NASA’s ambitious Artemis project. Central to this mission is the Gateway, a space station in lunar orbit to be built-up through this decade via a coordinated international effort.

Gateway, a place for the astronauts to live and work, will support the setting-up of a sustained human presence in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface and serve as home base from where to continue the journey to Mars.

The first building blocks for Gateway will be a Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO). HALO, designed to be a home away from home, will provide the astronauts with the essentials needed for life: air, food, water and shelter as well as communication with Earth and with the missions on lunar surface and beyond. This module will serve as their safe place to live in space during long term periods.

How are we from Airbus helping to shape this vision?

While on Earth it might be possible to survive without electrical power, in space it is impossible. For astronauts to survive and for all systems to work, electrical power is essential. Electrical power in Gateway is generated by the solar panels and stored in the batteries in the Power Propulsion Element. This energy needs to be managed and distributed so that the required voltage and current are delivered to each of Gateway’s modules and its future visiting space vehicles. The Power Management and Distribution Subsystem (PMAD) developed by Airbus is responsible for this critical function.  

Located in the Habitation and Logistics Outpost module, this state-of-the-art subsystem delivers the electrical energy required to support daily operations.  All aspects of its design have been carefully considered to maximise efficiency, making optimum use of the available energy sources at any time.  The mission operations team on Earth or the crew onboard can adjust power consumption to suit different operational requirements:  from taking a cup of coffee in the morning to performing cutting-edge scientific research, both life and work activities will receive power tailored to their specific need.

Gateway’s electrical power which is equivalent to seven average size households on Earth, will be managed entirely by the Airbus built subsystem.

Supporting a long-lasting and safe mission

Gateway will orbit the Moon at a distance of about 340 000 km from Earth for at least 15 years. Built-in redundancy and in-orbit maintainability are crucial features enabling a safe and long-standing use of Gateway.  

The power subsystem design ensures that if one source or component fails, it is possible to reconfigure the electrical power path to make sure that a reliable energy flow is always available where required.

Innovative mechanical design, heat evacuation technologies, as well as state-of-the-art electrical solutions make it possible for the crew to easily maintain and repair the hardware in-orbit.

Where are we now? 

The first two models of the Power Management and Distribution subsystem built by Airbus for Gateway’s HALO are now with the prime contractor Northrop Grumman in the US, bringing us one step closer to the Moon.

This subsystem is fully designed, integrated and tested in our facilities at Tres Cantos in Spain. For this first delivery, we have provided two model sets to be used for HALO integration testing and, in the future, become part of the HALO on-ground replica for Gateway’s mission operation support activities.