NASA, the United States, and the space industry are building increased access to and commercialization of opportunities in low Earth orbit; a return to the moon’s surface by 2024 – this time to stay; and sustainable exploration of deep space, including the moon and Mars. We are committed to NASA’s Artemis program and to the National Space Council’s vision for continued American leadership and international partnerships in space.
Research underway on the International Space Station (ISS) that we built and sustain is enabling humans and technology to operate in space for months at a time. Commercial spacecraft such as our CST-100 Starliner will open a market for tourism and manufacturing in low Earth orbit, while increasing research conducted on the ISS. That will allow NASA and its partner agencies to focus on deep-space exploration missions.
You’ll need the most powerful rocket ever built to get people and massive payloads to the moon and Mars. NASA’s Space Launch System is the size of a 38-story building and will produce 8.8 million pounds of maximum thrust at launch. We’re providing its avionics, core stage and upper stages to support NASA’s Artemis moon missions and make the next generation of human spaceflight possible.
We’re designing a Gateway for cislunar space – the region between the Earth and the moon – to be a testbed and hub for robotic and crewed missions to the lunar surface and eventually to Mars. And we’re conducting studies on surface modules and other technologies for lunar exploration.