I saw some news article about the threats posed by Chinese orbital maintenance tools that can be misused.
Am I the only one that thinks that its a great idea to develop the tech to refuel and repair satellites? I wanted this tech for years, it seems like what the beginning of the space age actually looks like, that you can sustain small infrastructure in space on maintenance contracts from contractor companies and stuff, instead of basically being tied to a 'trucking company (heavy launch)' for the entire product life cycle.
IMO even something as simple as a satellite being able to have its card swapped in space by a robot means that the cost of sat development went way down, much like computers. You can put more ram, a new monitor, better sensors... extends the life of a computer drastically.... and eventually when the repairs get good enough (space soldering) you could even get away with doing less tests on issues that can likely be fixed in orbit by repair/upgrade/maintenance bots.
I hope the DoD does not stunt development of this technology but some how works to improve warning satellite security and stuff so it can coexist.
Because IMO, its really starting to feel like its the begining of the real space age where there is potential for cheap applicability to space projects.
I am imagining essentially floating PC's in space with generic inputs that can be retrofitted with various hardware, even possibly on a space rental basis, developed at a later time. Then you only have 1 heavy launch for the power system and then just robots or possibly space workers to plug in cards. And you don't have power constraints of things like cube sats, its more like you get access to a large power source on board for your card.
and it seems like there will be less space debris this way, since project life is extended, and the 'chassis' can be reused. Space Milkshake comes to mind