Commercial LEO Refueling Station

[Swampcat]

<center><blockquote>Stone Aerospace Announces Formation of a Company to Establish a Commercial Refueling Station in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)</blockquote><br /><blockquote><p align="left"><font color="orange">On March 10, 2007, at the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) Conference in Monterey, California, Dr. Bill Stone presented a briefing entitled "Pushing the Limits of Exploration on Earth and in Space" to over 900 attendees. In the briefing, Stone announced his intent to be the first explorer to lead an industrial team to the moon to explore for water and other fuels, and, if found in sufficient quantity, process the fuels on the moon, then transfer them to a low Earth orbit (LEO) refueling station. The commercial enterprise will provide a variety of fuels and life support compounds, such as water, liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, gaseous oxygen and hydrogen, and potentially nitrogen and methane at market prices to space farers on a first come, first serve basis.</font>/p></p></blockquote></center><br /> <br />The Shackleton Energy Company (SEC) plans on being open for business around 2015 selling fuel made from ice collected at the Moon's South Pole.<br /><br />Of course, this seems overly ambitious, but I wish them luck. Another customer for Bigelow and SpaceX?<br /><br />It brings up what could be an interesting scenario over property rights. Suppose a company were to beat NASA to Shackleton Crater and set up a mining operation there. Would NASA have to ask permission from a private company to land there?<br /><br />This whole property rights issue will get interesting as these kinds of things actually happen. For now it's just fodder for discussion <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" />. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

SDC now has an article on this here. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[docm]

Inflatable? Base on the moon?<br /><br />Sounds like something that would benefit from a Bigelow/Lockheed partnership....maybe Dragon too.<br /><br />Timing interesting too.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[propforce]

*Sigh* I hate to correct technical mistakes especially from SpaceRef.com...<br /><br />But unless they plan to sell *FUEL* only and no *OXIDIZER*, their name of "refueling station" shows the amateurish nature and a lack of technical understanding of their intended business.<br /><br />I don't care what the Hollywood calls it, but OXYGEN is NOT a FUEL !!!<br /><br />If you plan to sell PROPELLANT in LEO, you'd better get your name right !! <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Picky, picky, picky <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"If you plan to sell PROPELLANT in LEO, you'd better get your name right !!"</font><br /><br />Good point. I'm usually pretty picky about that sort of thing myself, but I didn't pick up on it.<br /><br />This Dr. Stone probably should hire a good rocket scientist to help him get his terminology straight.<br /><br />Check out the Stone Aerospace website. Interesting company. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[docm]

That or he truncated his terminology so that even the "mainstream" media could get the gist of his plans. All the better not to confuse the poor babies <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[j05h]

<i>> But unless they plan to sell *FUEL* only and no *OXIDIZER*, their name of "refueling station"...but OXYGEN is NOT a FUEL !!! ... If you plan to sell PROPELLANT in LEO, you'd better get your name right !!</i><br /><br />"fuel" has one syllable, whereas "propellant" has three. "fuel station" is much easier for Attention-Deficit America to remember than the technically correct "propellant depot". Stone Aero has been making some serious news these past weeks.<br /><br />Josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"Stone Aero has been making some serious news these past weeks."</font><br /><br />Yeah, I saw the article in SpaceRef concerning their work on the DEPTHX vehicle. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[R1]

Is there supposed to be alot of water ice on the moon? I read about the craters that don't get sunlight, but it <br />looks like only the edges, and not the whole crater.<br /><br />Other than water ice, could moon regolith be a used as a source for anything important like propellant or<br />some kind of radiation tiles/shields for spacecraft?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rocketman5000]

lunar regolith has a large amount of oxygen trapped in different molecular compounds. some being iron oxide.

 

[kelvin_zero]

probably YES re regolith propellent. It contains lots of oxygen and aluminium.<br />http://www.moonminer.com/Lunar_regolith.html<br /><br />Aluminium powder plus oxidiser is already used as a propellant for space shuttle solid rocket boosters, as in this link:<br />http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_SRB.html