Thales Alenia Space and the European Space Agency have signed an agreement to create an ESPRIT module for the future Gateway space station. The contract amount is almost 300 million euros.
On the seventh of January, a landmark event for the lunar orbital station program took place: the French-Italian aerospace manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a contract for 296 million euros, involving the construction of a European module.
The European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) module will provide communication and refueling. Thales Alenia Space announced in October that it was chosen as the creator of the module.
The Gateway station will be a relatively large habitable near-lunar station, the purpose of which will be to study the natural satellite of the Earth and other objects of our system. It is assumed that in the future it can be used during Martian expeditions.
Russia's participation in the program is possible, but it has not yet been determined.