NASA is bringing together the international partners in the Artemis program next week to discuss the program’s new architecture. NASA differentiates Artemis from the Apollo program by emphasizing that this time international partners will be an integral part. But recent changes are raising questions about their role, especially the future of the international Gateway lunar space station.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. Screenshot. March 19, 2026.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed next week’s gathering during a press conference this morning following the quarterly meeting of ESA’s Ministerial Council.
After noting he had his first “very constructive, very positive and very interesting” meeting with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on February 11, he added that he is looking forward to learning about the new plans.
“NASA will see a very united Europe appearing in Washington and obviously in all the interactions afterwards. I think this is a very welcome opportunity. We will have yet to see what the proposal is, so therefore I cannot comment on something that is not known. But we will be sure that we are well prepared. And as new elements will come to the table, we will certainly reflect among our member states and prepare our actions, proposals and ways forward, always very swiftly, very proactively and I look forward to the meetings next week.” — Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General
ESA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are critical members of the Artemis program, building on decades-long partnerships with the United States including the International Space Station. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently joined as well.
Gateway is not the only Artemis contribution from the international partners, but is the one that brings everyone together.
Credit: NASA.
For Gateway, NASA is providing the initial elements: a Habitation and Logistics Module (HALO) and a Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for HALO, and Lanteris Space Systems (formerly Maxar) for the PPE.
ESA is building Gateway’s International Habitation Module, iHAB, in cooperation with JAXA. It’s also building the ESPRIT module for communications, refueling, and windows so the crew can look out to the Earth and the Moon like the Cupola on the ISS.
Separately, ESA provides the Service Module for Orion that contains the propulsion system and other critical elements. The first three European Service Modules (ESMs) for Artemis I, II and III were obtained through an arrangement to compensate NASA for operational expenses on the ISS. A second set of three for Artemis IV, V, and VI were later procured. Built by Airbus, four ESMs have been delivered and the other two are in production. As part of their cooperation, NASA agreed to send three ESA astronauts to Gateway.
Canada’s Jeremy Hansen is a member of the Artemis II crew, which will launch on a trip around the Moon as soon as April 1.
Canada was the first international partner to sign on to Gateway, agreeing in February 2019 to build a third version of the Canadarm robotic arm. The first Canadarm was part of the Space Shuttle program and Canadarm2 is an integral part of the ISS.
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is a member of the Artemis II crew that is getting ready to fly around the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era as soon as April 1.
JAXA is working with ESA on iHAB, plus building a Pressurized Lunar Rover for astronauts to use on the lunar surface. NASA is contracting with U.S. companies for Lunar Terrain Vehicles, but astronauts must remain in their spacesuits when aboard LTVs. In a pressurized rover, they can live inside the vehicle for extended periods of time, donning spacesuits only when they need to go outside. The United States agreed to land two Japanese astronauts on the Moon, including the first non-American as part of the Artemis program, in exchange.
The United Arab Emirates is the fourth partner in Gateway, building the airlock. At one time NASA hoped Russia would do that to keep the ISS partnership intact, but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that wasn’t possible and the UAE stepped in.
President Trump’s FY2026 budget request called for canceling Gateway, but Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) added $2.6 billion in the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) last summer to fully fund it. Nonetheless, questions are swirling about Gateway’s future with the major changes to Artemis Isaacman announced on February 27. He and other NASA officials have been circumspect in answering questions about Gateway since then.
Asked about it yesterday, Lori Glaze, Acting Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development, told the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference they are continuing to work on Gateway pursuant to the OBBBA, also called the Working Families Tax Credit Act, but the focus now is getting to the lunar surface.
“We are currently working under the Working Families Tax Credit Act, which provides funding for Gateway for several years. So we are continuing activities on Gateway. You’ve heard the Administrator, the announcement that came out a couple of weeks ago. What he said was, we are going to accelerate the activities and he wants to focus on the lunar surface, but he didn’t address the rest of the program at that time. So we are continuing with Gateway and continuing to work with our partners.” — Lori Glaze
NASA has been endeavoring to return astronauts to the Moon for decades at varying levels of effort. President George W. Bush made a lunar return a priority in 2004, but President Obama eschewed the Moon, choosing to focus on getting astronauts to Mars instead. In December 2017, President Trump restored the Moon as a pathway to Mars, with commercial and international partners an important component.
The concept of a “gateway” in lunar orbit evolved over those years. Gateway is much smaller than the ISS and not intended to be permanently occupied. Crews could stay there for about three months to conduct scientific research. A primary function is to serve as a transfer point between Earth and the lunar surface. The Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion will put astronauts into lunar orbit where they will meet up with the Human Landing Systems (HLSs) being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. SpaceX’s Starship HLS and Orion will directly dock in lunar orbit for the first lunar landing, but after that connect through the Gateway. The question is how much of that architecture is included in NASA’s revised plan. Critics insist Gateway is unnecessary.
Another question for ESA is whether NASA still plans to use ESM-6 for the Artemis program. Trump’s budget proposal also called for terminating the SLS/Orion system after Artemis III and replacing it with commercial alternatives like SpaceX’s Starship or Blue Origin’s New Glenn. Cruz added $4.1 billion in the OBBBA for Artemis IV and V, however.
Isaacman’s new plan is that Artemis III will be an earth-orbiting test flight instead of a lunar landing, and Artemis IV and V will be landings, but the fate of SLS/Orion after that is unclear. If Artemis V is the final flight of SLS/Orion, ESM-6 won’t be needed. At today’s ESA press conference, Daniel Neuenschwander, Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, said ESM-6 remains assigned to Artemis as of now.
Last Updated: Mar 19, 2026 8:13 pm ET