"Will Space Force Protect Orbiting Gas Stations and Bases" Topic

"Earlier this month, U.S. firm OrbitFab inked its first deal to provide "a gas station in space" that will help satellites and spacecraft keep going after they exhaust the propellant they brought to orbit. It's another sign of the infrastructure being built to help firms and countries return to the moon and ultimately venture beyond.

For the Space Force, it's generating another set of questions about its responsibilities to defend those assets.

"We're already starting to see so much private industry reaching towards cislunar space and lunar projects. So this refueling, what it opens up, is now the condition that you can travel beyond only the fuel that you can bring with you. Think how limited our travels would be if we can only go anywhere on one tank of gas," said Lesley Conn, senior manager of research and analysis with the Space Foundation. "It allows U.S. interests to advance and other national interests. It also raises the specter that as U.S. companies expand into space, how will the U.S. Space Force and other nations seek to advance and extend their defense responsibilities into that same environment?"…"

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