NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced ambitious plans aimed at radically transforming the agency’s lunar space program, with the aim of establishing a permanent human presence on the moon.
Last Tuesday, Isaacman pointed to the nature of the intense competition in this field, stressing that “time passes during this great competition for power, and success or failure will be measured in months, not years.”
He explained that NASA intends to pump huge investments amounting to about $20 billion over the next seven years, with the aim of establishing an integrated lunar base by implementing dozens of space missions.
NASA revealed a gradual strategy for building this base, which includes temporarily suspending the “Gateway” space station project in its current form, which was supposed to orbit the moon, while shifting the focus towards developing the infrastructure necessary to enable sustainable and continuous operations on the surface of the moon.
Isaacman stressed that “NASA is committed to achieving the almost impossible again, which is to return to the moon before the end of President Donald Trump’s term, build a base on the moon, achieve a permanent presence, and do the other things necessary to ensure American leadership in space.”
