NASA drops Moon Gateway plan, shifts focus to $20 billion lunar surface base

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has cancelled plans to deploy a base built on Earth around the moon.

Instead, the American space agency has decided to repurpose components and construct a $20 billion base on the moon’s surface in the next seven years.

In a statement on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman outlined the change in policy regarding its moon program, Artemis.

He said: “It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface.”

The space agency’s Lunar Gateway was a proposed International Space Station (ISS)-like facility that would float around the moon and act as a primary base and transfer station for astronauts for further lunar exploration.

The facility has already been partially built by contractors, Northrop Grumman and Vantor; however, NASA now plans to repurpose the equipment for a lunar surface base.

The proposed changes come after China announced plans to start constructing a base on the moon by 2030 and complete it by 2035.

The announcement by Isaacman comes as the space agency plans to launch its Artemis II mission on April 1, 2026.

The first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years has already faced multiple delays and it remains to be seen whether NASA will be able to meet the revised timeline.