Preparing for the Deep Space Gateway

Private companies are building prototypes for a planned Deep Space Gateway space station to prepare crews and develop equipment for missions deeper into the solar system

The time is now approaching for humanity to consider its next steps in space. For the

past two decades, manned spaceflight has revolved around the International Space Station (ISS), which has been continuously inhabited since 2000. But time is running out: after several life extensions, the ISS is currently scheduled to go out of service around 2024.

To acclimatise crew for the long durations in space required for deep-space missions, and to develop and test systems for long-duration spaceflight and the conditions distant from Earth, the solution being considered by NASA is a Deep Space Gateway (DSG). This will be a space station positioned in lunar orbit (sometimes referred to as cis-lunar space), around a quarter of a million miles from Earth and well outside the protection of the magnetosphere.