华盛顿——当 NASA 的“猎户座”太空舱上周在加利福尼亚海岸附近的太平洋降落时，它标志着历史性的“阿耳忒弥斯 2 号”任务的结束。但正如 NASA 局长贾里德·艾萨克曼（Jared Isaacman）在成功溅落后不久宣布的那样，将四名宇航员送入比以往任何人类都更深远的太空仅仅是一个开始——这是“美国重返月球的开场白”。这一雄心并非新闻。事实上，NASA 多年来一直在筹备重返月球表面，并积极制定建立人类首个月球轨道空间站的计划。然而，新情况是，该航天机构将不再作为其 2019 年“门户”（Gateway）计划的一部分推进该项目。就在“阿耳忒弥斯 2 号”发射前夕，NASA 宣布将“暂停当前形式的门户计划”。相反，它打算将重点和资源转向最近宣布的“点火”（Ignition）计划，该计划旨在与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的国家太空政策保持一致。
尽管该机构执行“不设惊喜”政策，但这一宣布显然让一些国际合作伙伴措手不及。这并不令人意外：虽然其中许多国家投资了旨在建立国际月球轨道空间站的“门户”计划，但“点火”议程优先考虑在美国月球表面建立存在感。更令包括加拿大、欧洲、日本和阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE）在内的美国合作伙伴和盟友担忧的是，NASA 尚未明确它们在其未来的新方案中将扮演什么角色。
从欧洲到亚洲，盟友们正在应对 NASA 的转型
在 NASA 的国际合作伙伴中，对该机构战略转型的反应不一，有的表示具有灵活性，有的则公开表达了挫折感。
例如，负责开发“门户”计划价值数百万美元的“乘员与科学气闸舱模块”的阿联酋穆罕默德·本·拉希德航天中心已承诺在“点火”计划下继续提供支持。
WASHINGTON—When NASA’s Orion capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California last week, it marked the end of the historic Artemis II mission. But as NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced shortly after the successful splashdown, sending four astronauts further into space than any humans before them was just the beginning—“the opening act of America’s return to the Moon.” This ambition isn’t new. In fact, NASA has been preparing a return to the lunar surface for years and has actively worked on plans to establish humanity’s first lunar-orbit space station. What is new, however, is that the space agency won’t be moving forward with the project as part of its 2019 Gateway program anymore. Just before the launch of Artemis II, NASA announced that it would “pause Gateway in its current form.” Instead, it intends to shift its focus and resources toward its recently announced Ignition program, which was designed to align with US President Donald Trump’s National Space Policy.
Despite the agency’s “no surprises” policy, this announcement apparently caught some international partners off guard. And not surprisingly so: while many of them invested in Gateway, which aimed to establish an international space station in lunar orbit, the Ignition agenda prioritizes building a US presence on the surface of the Moon. Even more concerning for US partners and allies—including Canada, Europe, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—is the fact that NASA has yet to clarify what role they will play in its new approach going forward.
From Europe to Asia, allies grapple with NASA’s pivot
Among NASA’s international partners, reactions to the agency’s strategic pivot have been mixed, with some indicating flexibility and others openly expressing frustration.
For example, the UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, which was tasked with the development of Gateway’s multi-million-dollar Crew and Science Airlock Module, has pledged its continued support under Ignition. But responses from Canada and Europe have been more cautious.
MDA Space, the Canadian manufacturing company that was actively developing a robotic arm for Gateway’s lunar orbit space station under the Canadian Space Agency, has stated that the shift came as a “surprise.” Meanwhile, European Space Agency (ESA) director Josef Aschbacher cautioned that a conversation about ESA’s role in Ignition—and about the consequences for its contracted private companies—must “take place right now.”
Within international partnerships, consistency and clear communication are key. And even though it’s likely that Gateway-related projects will be repurposed, NASA’s international partners are clearly left grappling with uncertainty about how their prior commitments will translate into NASA’s new strategic framework.
Why international collaboration is central to US space ambitions
Addressing this issue should be central to the space operations of US partners and to NASA. After all, a mission like Artemis II—w
