The launch of NASA's Gateway space station's Halo module is drawing nearer.

Module's welding completed in Italy

June 10 (UPI) -- NASA announced on Monday that progress is being made on the launch of its Gateway space station, with welding completed on a module in Turin, Italy.

The Habitation and Logistics Outpost, known as HALO, is one of four modules where astronauts will live, conduct scientific research, and prepare for missions to the lunar surface. The launch of Gateway is set for no earlier than 2025. In 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $331.8 million contract to launch the first two components of the outpost using the Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida to the moon.

The space station will orbit in a highly elliptical path, coming within about 1,865 miles of the lunar surface at its closest point before traveling out to a distance of 43,500 miles and then returning. Each orbit is expected to take about a week. Gateway is approximately one-sixth the size of the International Space Station.

Thales Alenia teams have moved HALO to a new location in the company's facility for stress tests to ensure the module's safety. Thales Alenia is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo. HALO will then be transported to Gilbert, Ariz., where Northrop Grumman will complete the final outfitting before launch to lunar orbit with Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element. Northrop Grumman received a $935 million fixed-price contract from NASA in 2021.

The project partners for Gateway include the Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in the United Arab Emirates.

In March, Dr. Jon B. Olansen replaced retiring Dan Hartman as director of the space station program. Olansen has been involved with the program since its inception in 2019.

Human launches aboard Artemis to the moon are scheduled for no earlier than 2026.