NASA Gateway station could serve as lunar spaceport by 2030

NASA's planned lunar station, Gateway, could function as a spaceport for crewed missions, cargo vehicles, and lunar landers between 2030 and 2040. A study by researchers at Texas A&M University, published in Acta Astronautica, outlines the operational strategies required to manage orbital traffic in this environment.

Unlike terrestrial airports, this lunar hub will lack runways or stationary parking. Instead, spacecraft must maintain continuous movement within a complex Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). This orbit is shaped by the combined gravitational pull of the Earth and the Moon, requiring vessels to perform periodic maneuvers to correct trajectories and maintain safe distances from one another.

Engineers have developed algorithms and conducted thousands of simulations to manage these orbital scenarios, specifically addressing how to coordinate the arrival, departure, and loitering of various spacecraft, such as Orion capsules and logistics vehicles, within the unstable gravitational environment.