Orbital ATK is an American aerospace developer with the grand vision of participating in a mission to the moon in the very near future.
A lunar outpost may be orbiting the moon within just five years, ready to assist NASA when the Orion spacecraft arrives in 2021. This facility would be staffed by a human crew of four space travelers.
Although unfamiliar to many in the general public, Orbital ATK was founded in 2015 by the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and branches of Alliant Techsystems. The company was directed by NASA to conceptualize an orbiting space platform for lunar orbit which could be upgraded, over time, into a full-fledged research station.
"A lunar-orbit habitat will extend America's leadership in space to the cislunar domain. A robust program to build, launch and operate this initial outpost would be built on NASA's and our international partners' experience gained in long-duration human space flight on the International Space Station," said Frank Culbertson, president of Space Systems Group.
As part of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program, the lunar outpost would act in conjunction with the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion deep-space transportation system. That program is meant to facilitate cooperation between NASA and private space developers.
An orbiting lunar base could be a stepping ground to the human exploration of the lunar surface, as well as Mars. The company believes its Cygnus spacecraft could provide a convenient building block in the construction of the lunar space station.
Currently, NASA is planning to send a human crew to Mars sometime in the 2030s. Getting there will require small steps, which began with the International Space Station.
"Astronauts on the orbiting laboratory are helping us prove many of the technologies and communications systems needed for human missions to deep space, including Mars. The space station also advances our understanding of how the body changes in space and how to protect astronaut health," NASA officials report on their website.
A Cygnus space module will be placed into lunar orbit in 2020, carried aloft by a commercial rocket. The following year, NASA astronauts are due to arrive aboard an Orion spacecraft. From that time forward, the base will become larger, more intricate, and - hopefully - more crowded.
