Last October, the European Space Agency (ESA) finalized ambitious plans to explore the Lunar surface for frozen water. These plans include:
- The construction of crew lodges for the orbiting lunar Gateway space station;
- Developing the power and propulsion units for the Orion spacecraft;
- Creating modern spacesuits for greater flexibility and movement than those of their Apollo predecessors and deep space exploration;
- Designing and building an elaborate communication and refueling unit, known as Esprit, to serve astronauts on the Moon.
Now, ESA has signed a contract to begin constructing the Esprit module for the international lunar Gateway space station. Esprit (The European System Providing Refuelling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications) will comprise two separate units- communications and refueling.
The communications system will be used to and from the lunar surface by astronauts – to provide data, voice, and video links. It will be mounted on NASA’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module, which is expected to launch in 2024.
The refueling unit will supply the Gateway with xenon and chemical propellants to enable the space station to keep its orbit around the Moon. It will also refuel lunar landers and other spacecraft that wish to use the Gateway (such as mars travelers) as an “interplanetary petrol station.”
Finally, the Esprit module will also feature a series of observation ports, with 360-degree views of the Moon and spacecraft as they approach and dock.
The $358.2M (€296.5M) contract to build Esprit was signed between Thales Alenia Space and ESA on January 7. The construction work will be split between Thales sites in the UK, Italy, and France. Meanwhile, NASA is currently running final tests of its Space Launch System deep-space rocket, which will power the agency’s next-generation human Moon missions.
This is only the beginning of what this year has in store for space advances and undertakings. There are at least six exciting space missions to take off this year.
