NASA has begun to prepare for the Deep Space Gateway, an incredibly ambitious project that would involve creating a port near the moon that would help man go back to the moon and eventually to Mars and beyond. There is not yet any timeline or technical details released yet on the DSG program, but planning has begun for what will undoubtedly be a huge technological undertaking.

President Trump said during a ceremony in which he signed the first space policy directive of his administration that the Deep Space Gateway would “establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday to many worlds beyond.”

It is called Space Policy Directive-1, and it comes from recommendations from the National Space Council. The spacecraft industry is hard at work researching the Power Propulsion Element, a key part of the DSG program.

“NASA is leading the next steps into deep space near the moon, where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems needed for challenging missions to deep space destinations including Mars,” reads a NASA statement. “The area of space near the moon offers a true deep space environment to gain experience for human missions that push farther into the solar system, access the lunar surface for robotic missions but with the ability to return to Earth if needed in days rather than weeks or months.”