NASA has effectively stopped work on the Lunar Gateway’s primary habitation module, dealing another blow to the already troubled orbital station. The agency told Northrop Grumman contractor Paragon Space Development Corp. last week to stop working on the life-support system for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, known as HALO, according to sources who spoke with Ars Technica.
The HALO module, a pressurized section 6.1 meters (20 feet) long in which visiting Artemis astronauts would live and work, has been in development since 2019. NASA awarded Northrop Grumman contracts worth $1.1 billion to design, build, and integrate the module. Paragon received a separate contract worth more than $100 million for the life-support system.
The work stoppage follows NASA’s March announcement that it was shifting its lunar strategy from an orbital space station to a surface Moon base. At the time, officials said work would be paused on the Lunar Gateway. The Power and Propulsion Element, the other major Gateway component, was redirected to serve as a core module for a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration. HALO’s fate remained unclear until now.
HALO’s primary structure arrived at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, in April 2025 from Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. At an event celebrating the milestone, NASA officials hailed the module’s progress. Then, in April 2026, Ars Technica reported that the module’s aluminum structure had developed corrosion, raising questions about its long-term viability.
The corrosion issue may have contributed to the decision to stop work. Fixing it would require additional time and cost that NASA may not have been willing to commit to a module whose parent program, the Lunar Gateway, had already been effectively cancelled. Fully outfitted, HALO has a mass of 8 to 9 metric tons, a substantial payload for lunar surface delivery that may have been inconsistent with NASA’s cautious approach to developing lunar surface hardware.
Lobbying that failed
After the March pivot to a Moon base, Northrop Grumman lobbied NASA to repurpose HALO as a lunar surface habitat. The company argued that the module was “the most mature technology to support a deep space or lunar habitat” and that it could be adapted for surface use.
Those efforts appear to have failed. “HALO can be repurposed for a variety of lunar missions and it’s the most mature technology to support a deep space or lunar habitat,” a Northrop Grumman spokesperson told Ars. “Northrop Grumman and our supplier partners will continue to work with NASA as they explore how to best utilize these resources.”
The spokesperson added that most affected employees would be reassigned. “We are reassigning most affected employees across existing opportunities and programs within our Space portfolio.”
Two sources indicated that the decision has not damaged NASA’s relationship with Northrop Grumman. “NASA has come to good terms with Northrop on how they’re going to contribute to the Moon base,” a space agency source told Ars.
The end of Gateway
The HALO work stoppage is the most concrete sign yet that the Lunar Gateway, once the centerpiece of NASA’s Artemis architecture, is effectively dead. Conceived during the first Trump administration as a waypoint for astronauts traveling to the lunar surface, the Gateway was never universally supported within the space community. Critics argued it added unnecessary complexity and cost to an already ambitious Moon program.
NASA’s pivot to a surface base in March reflected a broader shift in priorities under the current administration. The agency has been refocusing on surface infrastructure, including habitat modules, pressurized rovers, and in-situ resource utilization systems. An orbital station no longer fits the plan.
For Northrop Grumman, the loss of HALO is a setback but not a crisis. The company’s Space portfolio includes work on the Space Launch System, commercial satellites, and national security space programs. The reassignment of HALO engineers to other projects means the expertise is retained even if the module is not.
For the Artemis program, the question is whether a Moon base without a Gateway is a simpler path or just a different one. Surface habitats need power, thermal control, life support, and radiation shielding. The HALO module had those systems designed and partially built. Starting over for a surface configuration means a new contract, new design work, and new integration challenges.
Publicly, neither NASA nor Northrop Grumman is confirming the stop-work order or that this is the end of the line for HALO. But the sources who spoke to Ars are clear: the module that was supposed to house Artemis astronauts on their way to the Moon will not fly.
Sources: NASA asks Northrop Grumman to stop working on lunar HALO module (Ars Technica, June 19, 2026); Well, this is embarrassing: The Lunar Gateway’s primary modules are corroded (Ars Technica, April 2026); Lunar Space Station Module for NASA’s Artemis Campaign (WebWire/NASA, April 2025)