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Traveling to Mars and Ceres using Lunar Gateway as a springboard

How can humanity use the developing Lunar Gateway as an appropriate starting point for advancing human space exploration beyond the moon? This is what a presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference () hopes to address as a team of researchers evaluated a myriad of ways that Lunar Gateway could be used as a testbed for future technologies involving sending humans to Mars and Ceres.

This study has the potential to help scientists, engineers, astronauts, and mission planners develop novel strategies for advancing long-term human space exploration.

For the study, Malaya Kumar Biswal, who is the Founder & CEO of Acceleron Aerospace, and Ramesh Kumar V, the Founder and CEO of Grahaa Space, build on they also presented at LPSC involving the Human Crewed Interplanetary Transport Architecture (HUCITAR), which is a mission concept designed to send humans to Mars and the dwarf planet Ceres.

For this research, the team examined several ways the Lunar Gateway could be used to help test and prepare technologies and astronauts for future human missions to Mars and Ceres between 2040 and 2050, including propulsion and refueling, life support and radiation shielding, assembly and maintenance, and communications and navigation.

Additionally, they proposed a mission plan for sending humans to Mars and Ceres after launching from the Lunar Gateway, which would involve traveling to Mars, conducting orbital and surface operations, traveling to Ceres for the same goals, then returning home. While the researchers emphasize confidence in their goals and objectives, they caution of the challenges, including risk management, logistical and financial support, science priorities, and technology advancements.

The study concludes, "Advancing the Lunar Gateway to support multi-planetary missions to Mars and Ceres represents a bold step forward in human space exploration. This approach optimizes resources by combining multiple destinations into a single mission and creates sustainable infrastructure for ongoing deep space exploration. Realizing such ambitious missions by 2040–2050 will require global cooperation, sustained funding, and significant technological advancements."

This study comes as an international consortium comprised of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) are currently constructing the first modules of Lunar Gateway with a planned launch date of 2027.

These first modules are the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), which are being manufactured by Maxar Technologies and Thales Alenia Space, respectively. While this first launch will be uncrewed, the four subsequent missions delivering additional modules will be crewed as part of Artemis IV, V, VI, and VII and currently scheduled for September 2028, March 2030, March 2031, and March 2032, respectively.

Expected science to be conducted on the Lunar Gateway includes the fields of planetary science, human health, solar physics, and Earth observation, just to name a few.

Lunar Gateway holds the potential to build on the fantastic research and science that has been conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) for more than two decades, which has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of how humans can live and work in space and various scientific fields, including those listed above.

While the ISS has been limited to conducting research in low Earth orbit, Lunar Gateway could serve as a springboard for humans exploring beyond the moon while developing the technology and architecture for mission success.