NASA's lunar Gateway space station is out. Moon bases are in

NASA is officially sidelining the long-planned lunar Gateway space station to focus its efforts on establishing a base on the surface of the moon.

The change comes as the agency continues to lay out its accelerated plan for returning astronauts to the moon and building a sustained human presence there as a part of the Artemis program. During an event announcing updates to its planned campaign of moon exploration on Tuesday (March 24), NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman framed the pivot as part of a broader push to hone the agency's workforce, simplify program architecture, increase launch cadence and compete with China's lunar ambitions.

"We find ourselves with a real geopolitical rival, challenging American leadership in the high ground of space," Isaacman said. NASA has committed to landing astronauts back on the moon, "before the end of President Trump's term," Isaacman stated, and said the next step toward building a moon base is a pivot away from a space station in lunar orbit. "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.