The AN-124 cargo plane of ANTONOV airline delivered HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) - the main module of the future lunar space station Gateway - to the USA.
The HALO module was shipped from Thales Alenia Space's Turin, Italy facility to Phoenix-Mesa Airport, Arizona, USA, from where it will travel to Northrop Grumman's Gilbert facility for testing. Integration of HALO and the Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) will take place later at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
HALO is actually a residential module of the future Gateway lunar station, which NASA is building as part of the Artemis program. It is a place for living, working, and scientific experiments, as well as a module where energy storage and distribution, thermal regulation, communication, etc. take place. In addition, the module will have a docking bay for the Orion spacecraft.
HALO and PPE are scheduled to head to the Moon in 2027 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the first of the other Gateway modules.
Ukrainian cargo aircraft An-124 of the ANTONOV airline have long been used to transport heavy satellites and spacecraft from Europe to spaceports in the US and North America. In April 2022, there were even fears that the shortage of An-124s due to the outbreak of hostilities and the loss of aircraft could lead to delays in some space projects.
As of now, ANTONOV Airlines has a fleet of 7 flight-ready aircraft: three Antonov An-124-100 and four An-124-100M. On February 27, 2022, during the battles for Gostomel Airport, the company's An-225 "Mriya", An-74T-100 and An-26 aircraft were destroyed.