Gateway Tops Off

Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element is now equipped with its xenon and liquid fuel tanks.

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Nov 20, 2024 - 22:00

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Technicians work on the installation of hardware designed to house Gateway’s xenon fuel tanks, an integral component of its advanced electric propulsion system. The setup is conducted in a cleanroom environment, with one technician on an elevated lift and another standing at the base of the structure. An American flag is displayed prominently in the background.

Technicians carefully install a piece of equipment to house Gateway’s xenon fuel tanks, part of its advanced electric propulsion system.

Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, which will make the lunar space station the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown, recently received the xenon and liquid fuel tanks for its journey to and around the Moon.

Technicians in Palo Alto, California carefully install a piece of equipment that will house the tanks. Once fully assembled and launched to lunar orbit, the Power and Propulsion Element’s roll-out solar arrays – together about the size of an American football field endzone – will harness the Sun’s energy to energize xenon gas and produce the thrust to get Gateway to the Moon’s orbit where it will await the arrival of its first crew on the Artemis IV mission.

The Power and Propulsion Element will also carry the European Radiation Sensors Array science experiment provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), one of three Gateway science experiments that will study solar and cosmic radiation. The little understood phenomenon is a chief concern for humans and hardware journeying to deep-space destinations like Mars and beyond.

The Power and Propulsion Element is managed out of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and built by Maxar Space Systems of Palo Alto, California.

The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) hardware for the Gateway space station, including its primary structure and gold-coated fuel tanks, is displayed in a cleanroom at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California. The components are organized for assembly, with an American flag visible in the background.

Hardware for the Gateway space station’s Power and Propulsion element, including its primary structure and fuel tanks ready for assembly, are shown at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California.

Maxar Space Systems

Artist's rendering of NASA's Gateway space station in its initial configuration, featuring the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) connected to the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). The PPE is depicted actively using its Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) system, with blue plumes of ionized xenon gas streaming from the spacecraft. The Moon and Earth are visible in the distant background, showcasing Gateway's position in deep space.

An artist’s rendering of the Gateway space station’s Power and Propulsion Element.

NASA/Alberto Bertolin

A type of advanced electric propulsion system thruster that will be used on Gateway glows blue as it emits ionized xenon gas during testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.

NASA