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Gateway Program Acquisition Strategy Overview 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Washington D.C., United States, 21-25 October 2019. Copyright ©2019 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved. IAC-19,E3,6,5,x53831 GATEWAY PROGRAM ACQUISITION STRATEGY OVERVIEW Emma Lehnhardta, Christopher Zavrelb, Nicole Herrmannc a National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, United States, [email protected] b Stellar Solutions Inc, United States, [email protected] c National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Headquarters, United States, [email protected] Abstract This paper will provide an overview of the acquisition strategy for the Gateway Program. The Gateway will be an outpost orbiting the Moon that provides vital support for a sustainable, long-term human return to the lunar surface, as well as a staging point for further deep space exploration. The Gateway will foster U.S. industry and international partnerships and enable multi-discipline utilization. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will lead this next step and will serve as the integrator of the spaceflight capabilities and contributions of U.S. commercial partners and international partners to develop the Gateway. The Gateway will be developed in a manner that will also allow future capabilities and collaborations with U.S. Government, private sector companies, and international partners. Gateway is embracing innovation and flexibility; both in system architecture and in procurement approach. The Gateway’s agile acquisition strategy will shape the entire system life cycle, from design and analysis through production, verification, launch, logistics and operations. This strategy will encourage new ways of doing business to accommodate new techniques, technologies and approaches; improving affordability and maximizing Gateway utility. The full range of acquisition authorities and contracting mechanisms available to NASA will be considered and appropriately tailored in response to the unique demands of each procurement activity. This paper will include publicly appropriate procurement status and timelines for each Gateway element, primarily focusing on: 1) strategic planning for the execution of public-private partnerships that nurture and advance a cislunar space economy while advancing the NASA’s exploration mission, 2) how results from integrated analysis cycles inform requirements definition, 3) applicable program management approaches for Gateway regarding U.S. Government oversight versus insight gathered via lessons learned from other NASA programs, government agencies, and industry best practices. I. INTRODUCTION Gateway is more than a destination for deep space In December of 2017, President Trump signed crew expeditions and science investigations. It is a Space Policy Directive-1, or SPD-1, which directs the port for deep space transportation – for landers en route NASA Administrator to “lead an innovative and to the lunar surface or spacecraft embarking to sustainable program of exploration with commercial destinations beyond the Earth-Moon system. NASA and international partners to enable human expansion envisions the Gateway as a site where spacecraft may across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new be assembled, refurbished, and refueled in orbit, knowledge and opportunities. Beginning with outside of the Earth and Moon gravity wells, and with missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the United States the benefit of Gateway logistics and infrastructure. will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long- As we transition low-Earth orbit (LEO) operations term exploration and utilization, followed by human to the private sector, it is important to have an outpost missions to Mars and other destinations.”1 in deep space to further understand how to live and This next wave of lunar exploration will be work far away from Earth as well as how to maximize fundamentally different than the past. The goal today use of robotics and autonomous systems to keep our is sustainability – sustainability of presence in Earth missions, including the Gateway, most productive orbit, exploration around the Moon, exploration even when uncrewed. Gateway enables early crew anywhere on the Moon, and challenging exploration missions to the lunar surface in a sustainable way. missions beyond the Moon. Sustainability is the key Gateway will allow for aggregation of human lander to enabling human expansion across the solar system systems and for partners to participate in lunar and bringing back to Earth new knowledge and activities. This partnership is enabled by Gateway’s opportunities, and requires the early engagement of location and open architecture. The location allows scientific, international, and U.S. commercial interests, U.S. commercial launch vehicles available today to innovations, and new approaches. play a role in human exploration. The open IAC-19,E3,6,5,x53831 Page 1 of 7 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Washington D.C., United States, 21-25 October 2019. Copyright ©2019 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved. architecture allows anyone international or to support the 2024 landing – the Power and commercial to participate in human lunar exploration. Propulsion Element (PPE), the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), and logistics delivery II. GATEWAY OVERVIEW services. NASA’s Gateway plans are aligned with the The PPE, the first element of the Gateway, is a national objectives for deep space exploration as high-power, 50-kilowatt solar electric propulsion stipulated in SPD-1. Following the Vice President’s spacecraft that will provide power, high-rate announcement on March 26, 2019, NASA re-evaluated communications, attitude control, and orbital transfer the deep space Gateway plans to ensure that capabilities for the Gateway, while demonstrating development of the system would support the 2024 long-life and advanced solar electric propulsion for mission to land humans on the South Pole of the Moon NASA and U.S. industry. On May 23, 2019, NASA in 2024. Following initial analyses of the mission selected Maxar Technologies of Westminster, requirements, the basic Gateway capabilities remained Colorado as the industry partner to develop, build, unchanged. The outpost orbiting the Moon fosters and conduct the in-space demonstration of the PPE U.S. industry and international partnerships, but with a targeted launch on a commercial rocket in late focuses initial development and deployment for 2022.3 providing the vital support in cislunar space required NASA intends for the PPE to be fully owned and for a human return to the lunar surface. operated by Maxar through completion of the Gateway will initially operate in a halo orbit around spaceflight demonstration, the duration of which the Moon – one that is accessible not only by NASA’s would be up to one year from launch. During this first Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft for year of flight, NASA’s objectives are to demonstrate crews and outsized cargo, but also by many existing the performance of the PPE’s solar electric propulsion rockets on the U.S. domestic and international market system and orbital transfer and maintenance today. From this orbit, the Gateway will have a capabilities; to validate models; and to assess the continuous view of Earth, and will be able to support spacecraft’s suitability for use as the first element of lunar surface telerobotics, including those on the far the Gateway. Maxar also provided their flight side. Over its operational lifetime, the Gateway can be demonstration objectives, and the success of the transferred to other lunar orbits to increase the demonstration will be based on this joint set of potential for demonstrations and scientific objectives. At the completion of the demonstration, investigations, and to expand lander access across the NASA has the option to acquire the spacecraft, lunar surface. specifically as the first element of the Gateway. Since the Gateway will not be continuously The HALO will be the initial habitable volume of occupied like the ISS – NASA envisions crew visits the Gateway. Its primary purpose is to provide the approximately once per year – a strong focus is placed life support needs for the visiting astronauts after they on robotic integration and data systems to foster arrive in the Orion and prepare for departure to the ongoing investigations and operations that can operate lunar surface. The HALO will be a functional autonomously between crew visits. NASA envisions pressurized volume providing sufficient command, other U.S. industry and international partners being control, and data handling cpaabilities, energy storage able to send their crews to the Gateway as part of a and power distribution, thermal control, growing human lunar presence. communications and tracking capabilities, Gateway is designed to support a variety of environmental control and life support systems to utilization activities during both crewed and uncrewed augment the Orion spacecraft and support crew periods and is planned for continuous operations members; two axial and up to two radial docking throughout its lifetime. These operations include ports; stowage volume; and utilization demonstrating key exploration capabilities in a capabilities.The HALO will be designed as the relevant deep space environment, conducting science minimum capability necessary to support a lunar beyond the influence of Earth, and providing landing mission, with
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