<i>> If we used the same craft for repeated missions from L1 to the solar system, then you are correct. But as far as I can tell all of our missions will be from LEO, with different crafts. That would make L1 a waste of delta v. Plus I can’t see any country spending money for a depot at L1.</i><br /><br />L1 makes the most sense as the central transportation node in a larger network. Any orbital inclination access up and down through LEO, easy transfer and slow orbits to interplanetary locations. It really makes sense when propellant is being brought back into cis-Lunar space (from Moon, Mars, NEOs) from away instead of only from Earth. The first step is definitely a reliable, reusable tug to do LEO-L1. <br /><br />I'm proposing a new, dedicated corporation build the L1 station. They would host NASA and the propellant depot operator as anchor tenants. Ideally they would use existing/near-term hardware to do this instead of developing it all from scratch: BA-330 & SunDancer, Dragon and Soyuz, Alenia nodes and hard modules, whatever else is available. An excellent leverage will be long-duration, "smart" upper stages that serve as tugs/depot-parts. Commercially-sourced space stations will be available in the next 5-8 years. L1 is in a unique position. It's more than half-way to anywhere. <br /><br />Josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>