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NASA chose SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Lift rocket to launch the first two pieces of the agency’s lunar gateway, a site slated to orbit the moon, and the two pieces of the gateway, the propulsion unit and the residence of the astronauts, were originally designed to be launched separately. But NASA chose the Falcon Heavy as the solution to a trip for $ 332 million.
According to the starting point, NASA said in a statement that the Falcon Heavy, SpaceX’s most powerful operational missile, will send the Power and Propulsion (PPE) and the Regulation and Logistics Unit (HALO) at the latest. in space as a single integrated payload. until May 2024 ..
NASA had originally planned to acquire the equipment developed by Northrop Grumman to meet in space after the launch of two separate rockets, but the agency decided last year to launch them together on a mission to reduce the costs.
And NASA said launching these two elements together could be risky, as the payload could be too heavy for commercially available missiles or too long for the aerodynamics of the missile.
But NASA spokeswoman Monica Witt revealed to The Verge that the missile ultimately meets NASA’s performance requirements.
Perhaps the cost of $ 332 million is three times what the agency had previously granted for the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch, as NASA will pay SpaceX $ 117 million to launch the asteroid mission Psyche on the rocket in 2022, and SpaceX was asked by the company for exorbitant fees due to infrastructure and mission details.
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