It might be interesting to look up Gateway's mission and see why they are putting it in in orbit around the Moon rather than Earth. I know a major part of it is to learn the lessons needed for a human trip to Mars.

> Not only is it in a weird orbit

Regarding lunar orbits (I don't know about Gateway's orbit):

We are used to relatively stable gravity in Earth orbit, but it is much different out near the Moon: Gravity in cislunar space creates chaotic trajectories due to the three-body problem of Earth, Moon, and the vehicle. Orbits around the Moon are also much less stable than around Earth. There are only a few stable orbits, all below 700 km.

Here's a pretty good resource:

https://www.afrl.af.mil/Portals/90/Documents/RV/A%20Primer%2...