A US move to freeze the Lunar Gateway orbiting space station could render Japan’s new technologies redundant – but its space agency is expected to be diplomatic in its response.
The Lunar Gateway project was initially planned as an installation that would orbit the moon as part of the United States’ Artemis programme, which recently made headlines for a record-breaking journey that went deeper into space than anyone had ever flown before.
Artemis’ aim is to return astronauts to the moon’s surface for the first time since 1972, with the space station a key element of the project.
Questions were raised about the project in May last year, when the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressed concern over escalating costs, commercial alternatives and shifting priorities.
Nevertheless, US$2.6 billion of funding over two years was earmarked for the project last July under US President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
On March 24, however, Nasa announced it was freezing the project to focus on the construction of a base on the lunar surface, with future crewed missions to Mars in mind.
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