The European Space Agency (ESA) and Thales Alenia Space are hosting a media event on February 20, 2025, at their facility in Turin, Italy, to commemorate the departure of NASA's HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module to a Northrop Grumman site in the United States. This event marks a significant milestone in the Artemis program and the development of the Gateway, which will serve as the first human outpost around the Moon.
The event underscores the vital role of the European industry in constructing half of the Gateway's modules, emphasizing the contributions of European engineers to the Artemis initiative.
Attendees will have the final chance to see HALO in its integration cleanroom before its departure, tour the production area for Lunar I-Hab—ESA's habitation module for the Gateway—and explore the Lunar I-Hab mock-up, which has recently been utilized by ESA and NASA astronauts for interior design testing.
Media representatives will engage with key figures in human space exploration, including experts from ESA, NASA, Thales Alenia Space, and Northrop Grumman, along with special guest ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.
Guided tours of the HALO cleanroom, Lunar I-Hab production area, and Lunar I-Hab mock-up area in smaller groups; interview opportunities during the tour.
Additional informal questions and filming opportunities.
To attend, media representatives must register by January 30, 2025, due to limited capacity. ESA and Thales Alenia Space cannot guarantee participation for all interested media.
HALO, developed by Northrop Grumman, will be the first module of the Gateway, alongside NASA's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE). ESA's Lunar Link telecommunications element, also provided by Thales Alenia Space, will be attached to HALO.
Lunar I-Hab, ESA's habitation module for the Gateway, is slated for launch during the Artemis IV mission, propelled into lunar orbit by Orion and its European Service Module.
For more information, visit the ESA links: Gateway Overview, Lunar I-Hab, Lunar I-Hab Mock-up.