Sending the next humans to the moon
NASA is committed to landing the next humans on the moon and exploring beyond. The Mobile Launcher 2 (ML2) mission will help establish a lunar gateway to test and prove the ability to use technology to travel to Mars with the goal of establishing an outpost for lunar expeditions.
Image gallery
Bechtel will assist NASA in achieving this important mission by constructing ML2. As the selected contractor, Bechtel will design, build, test, and commission ML2: a ground structure used to support the Space Launch System (SLS) Rocket.
Teaming up to put boots on the moon
The ML2 project has partnered with a nationwide supply chain and is scheduled to procure more than $300 million in goods and services from suppliers located in more than 30 states. Some key subcontractors include: Petersen Inc., Paxton Verling Steel, Precision Fabrication & Cleaning, McAbee Construction, and Milton J Wood Fire Protection.
The Gateway
NASA’s Artemis program will send astronauts and heavy cargo to the lunar surface, lunar orbit, and beyond. The Gateway, a vital component of NASA’s Artemis program, will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the Moon that provides essential support for long-term human return to the lunar surface and serves as a staging point for deep space exploration. Our part of the mission is to design, procure and construct the ground platform structure that will launch SLS Block 1B and Block 2
configurations to the Moon.
To the moon and beyond
ML2 base structure will include a launch platform for SLS and physical connections to NASA’s ground infrastructure, providing numerous functions before launch. The tower portion of ML2, standing over 380 feet tall, will be equipped with several connection lines called umbilicals, as well as launch accessories that will provide SLS and Orion – NASA’s newest spacecraft designed specifically for deep-space missions – with power, communications, coolant, fuel, and stabilization prior to launch.
The scope of ML2 also includes: all project management, architectural and engineering design, technical integration, fabrication, construction, testing, commissioning and quality control. Bechtel has been entrusted to deliver a critical part of infrastructure for the most important human space mission to take place this century. We are proud to progress the Artemis Mission in its pursuit to return to the Moon and further to Mars.