By 
June 29th, 2016
Credit: ULA
A major U.S. launch provider has outlined a plan to enable a cislunar space economy based on their need for propellant and refueling in Earth orbit.
Dubbed the “Cislunar 1000 Vision,” the initiative foresees a self-sustaining economy that supports a 1,000 people living and working in space roughly 30 years from now.
A central element of the plan involves use of a souped-up Centaur rocket stage called ACES, standing for Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage. This liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen upper stage is designed to be reusable and can be refueled, perhaps by propellant made on Earth’s moon or extracted from asteroids.
Credit: ULA
The concept stems from an analysis and on-going technical work by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a 50-50 joint venture owned by Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company to provide Atlas and Delta launch services.
A roadmap to attain the Cislunar 1000 Vision was recently detailed at the 7th joint meeting of the Space Resources Roundtable and the Planetary & Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium, held June 7-9, 2016 at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.
Go to my new Space.com story at:
Inside ULA’s Plan to Have 1,000 People Working in Space by 2045
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
June 29, 2016 02:55pm ET
http://www.space.com/33297-satellite-refueling-business-proposal-ula.html
Posted in Space News
