The five-week partial government shutdown will push back the launch NASA's lunar Gateway module by up to three months. In a procurement filing Feb. 26, NASA said it halted work evaluating proposals for the Power and Propulsion Element during the five-week shutdown, and now expects to make awards in May rather than March. That will push back the schedule for the rest of the project, including delaying its launch from September 2022 to no later than the end of December 2022. Despite the setback, NASA recently gained Canada as the first country to formally announce plans to participate in the lunar gateway program. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would provide a Canadarm3 robotic arm and spend $1.4 billion over 24 years on the gateway program.
展开▼
