Flying an element of Nasa’s new lunar station
Antonov Airlines has transported the ‘Halo’ module, the first element of Nasa’s ‘Gateway’ lunar orbital platform, from Thales Alenia Space in Turin (Italy) to Arizona aboard one of its Antonov AN-124-100s.
The oversized cargo weighed more than 55 t and exceeded 4 m in height. It will now undergo final testing at Northrop Grumman’s facility before integration with the propulsion module at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Antonov team ensured a safe loading process by deploying a customised low-profile ramp and external cranes.
“We’re proud to support international space exploration,” said Maksym Bogatov. The mission was completed with logistics partner Fagioli. The Ukrainian air cargo experts from Antonov continue their global operations from a relocated base in Leipzig (Germany).
Read more about Italy and the heavylift sector in the forthcoming issue 5/2025 of the ITJ (2 May 2025). It’s time to come on board now! (ah)