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Orbital ATK, American aerospace developer is all set to assist NASA in exploring moon further. An Orbital ATK outpost will reportedly be orbiting the moon in next five years or so.

The outpost will be in place orbiting the moon in a mission to assist NASA when the spacecraft Orion arrives in 2021. The spacecraft which will be operated by a crew of four astronauts is said to be designed in such way that it could be reused on returning to earth.

The shape of the Orion spacecraft is reportedly the best for re-entry and though it is identical to its forebears it is quite larger than the one constructed before. With cathedral-like ceiling and a tight environment despite extra space the spacecraft will be able to accommodate around six space travellers, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The Orbital ATK outpost made to assist the spacecraft was founded by the combined effort of Orbital Sciences Corporation and branches of Alliant Techsystems in 2015. With directions from NASA the lunar outpost was designed to orbit moon which could later be upgraded into full-fledged space research station.

"A lunar-orbit habitat will extend America's leadership in space to the cislunar domain. A robust program to build, launch and operate this initial outpost would be built on NASA's and our international partners' experience gained in long-duration human space flight on the International Space Station," said Frank Culbertson, president of Space Systems Group, reported Tech Times.

The collaboration between NASA and Orbital ATK has taken place in accordance with Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program. Establishing a space station could be another simple step towards NASA's huge mission of landing humans in Mars in 2030s.

"Astronauts on the orbiting laboratory are helping us prove many of the technologies and communications systems needed for human missions to deep space, including Mars. The space station also advances our understanding of how the body changes in space and how to protect astronaut health. Our next step is deep space, where NASA will send a robotic mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon," NASA officials report on their website.