A Robotic Space Station

A space station is an adaptable multi-mission, multi-purpose entity, providing electrical power, orbit maintenance, attitude control, protection from the space environment, communications, and other services to its users. To date, those services have included human life support. Historical examples of space stations have supported other functions such as scientific research, physiological experiments, instrument support, and nanosatellite deployment. The need to support human life and safety has dominated their costs, system requirements and operational constraints. An uncrewed, robotically-enabled space station would have broad utility in support of national goals, while requiring much less capital investment. We explore the range of missions that could be supported by a robotic space station. A baseline design is presented that concentrates on the hosting of external payloads. A high-level cost estimate, a business case model, and some considerations for operations are presented.