Rocket Report: Russia reopens gateway to ISS; Cape Canaveral hosts missile test

Ars Technica
March 27, 2026
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2 min read

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The Bottom Line

Russia resumes ISS supply missions; NASA redirects Gateway lunar station funding to surface base development.

How This Affects You

Affects astronauts relying on Russian supply routes and future lunar exploration timelines for space agencies and contractors.

AI Summary

# Summary A Russian Soyuz rocket launched March 22 from Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Progress MS-33 supply ship to the International Space Station, reopening Russia's gateway to the ISS. NASA announced Tuesday it will pause work on the lunar Gateway space station and redirect approximately $4.5 billion in hardware developed since 2019 toward building a surface base on the Moon instead. The agency plans to repurpose Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element core module for a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration mission called Space Reactor-1, which would test nuclear-electric engines in deep space for the first time.

What's Being Done

Russia launched Progress MS-33 to ISS; NASA paused Gateway station work, repurposing $4.5B hardware for Moon surface base and nuclear-electric propulsion testing.

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