Well, this is embarrassing: The Lunar Gateway's primary modules are corroded

Source: Ars Technica

Background

For a decade, NASA promoted the idea of building a space station around the Moon known as the Lunar Gateway. The facility was presented as both a platform for exploring the lunar environment and a testbed for the technology needed for deep‑space habitation.

Like many major space projects, it faced delays:

• 2022 – The first component of the station was originally slated to launch (NASA award announcement).
• 2024 – The launch was later shifted to coincide with the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) (NASA contract release).
• 2026 – A second pressurized habitation module, contributed by international partners (I‑HAB), was planned to join the core.

These dates have come and gone. In March, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the Gateway was being “paused” so the agency could focus on the lunar surface (Ars Technica article, March 2026).

The decision to end the Gateway experiment is understandable: NASA and its partners were spending billions of dollars on a platform that could make it harder to reach the lunar surface, while the prospect of watching Chinese astronauts orbit the Moon instead of being there themselves loomed large.

But this week, another, shocking reason for the Gateway’s demise emerged.

Congressional Testimony

During testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Isaacman faced questions about NASA’s budget. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D‑Virginia)—whose district includes major Northrop Grumman facilities, the primary contractor for the HALO module—asked:

“You’ve also canceled an order for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost. Do you know what will happen to that large investment that was made?”

Since the Gateway’s cancellation, Northrop Grumman has been urging NASA to repurpose the HALO module for use on the lunar surface as part of the agency’s Moon base plans.