Space Fuel Depots

NASA has let contracts to four companies to study the concept of establishing fuel depots in space. NASA and many space advocates argue such celestial gas stations will be necessary for both deep space exploration and space colonization. Indeed, the space policy of the Obama administration emphasizes building infrastructure to support a long term human presence in space.

The four companies will look at strategies for establishing a system of depots, as well as define the technologies required. Perhaps the key problem to overcome is determining how to store super cold rocket fuels for extended periods in the glare of the Sun. Of course, creating such a system assumes chemical rockets will be the workhorses of the transportation system. Ion engines will likely power slow cargo ships into deep space relatively early in that coming era. Solar sails will also probably have a role. For faster flights, nuclear-powered rockets will be used in decades to come. Until then, however, chemical rockets will take us wherever we go, and those will be more efficient if we have fuel depots at key points in space.