The U.S. is building a gas station in space

Some 22,500 miles above Earth, a spacecraft filled with thruster fuel will gas up two orbiting Space Force assets. The high-altitude endeavor, undertaken by the orbital servicing enterprise Astroscale U.S., is slated to occur in the summer of 2026, the company announced this week. This Department of Defense-funded mission will see Astroscale's 660-pound craft refuel a satellite with the propellant hydrazine, then maneuver to a fueling depot to fill up with more fuel, and then refuel another asset. But it will be the first time a Space Force craft will be refueled in space. Such a fuel shuttle could keep spacecraft in orbit longer and eliminate the need for any craft to suspend its mission to retrieve thruster propellant.