---
title: "The Pentagon Wants Its Own Orbital Space Station, Like a Death Star, But Not, Okay?"
description: "The Pentagon wants its own dedicated space station in orbit around the Earth for both scientific research and military operations."
date: "2019-07-03"
modified: "2019-07-03"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-orbital-space-station"
categories:
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "military technology"
  - "Pentagon"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# The Pentagon Wants Its Own Orbital Space Station, Like a Death Star, But Not, Okay?

![The Pentagon wants its own dedicated space station in orbit around the Earth for both scientific research and military operations.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/pentagon-orbital-space-station.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: 20th Century Fox/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Reaching Out

The U.S. military is in the early stages of sending a self-supporting, autonomous space station into orbit around the Earth.

In its earliest stages, the space station will be small and (literally) inhospitable — the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) wants a dedicated orbital platform from which to conduct scientific experiments, [reports *Breaking Defense*](<https://breakingdefense.com/2019/07/pentagon-eyes-military-space-station/>). But in the long run, the DIU has tentative plans to upgrade the station so it can support life, which would give the government the unsettling ability to keep [militarized crews](<https://futurism.com/shadow-war-space-warfare-battlefield>) operating in space.

## Building Blocks

According to the [DIU's call](<https://www.diu.mil/work-with-us/companies/cso-solution-brief?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74085075&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_QFTCAKLzwcglMV6HN_lsYUjpm3slpALE_KcQ6BypYGQOq354JJa04p5fj8ckCk0NlsAD2wvBIiIWjcv037p09BB4GQw&_hsmi=74085075>) for contractors to design the space station, the orbital outpost needs to be entirely self-sufficient, and employ artificial intelligence to operate and steer itself in space.

But the solicitation also calls for a minimum internal volume of one cubic meter and the capability to endure zero to one atmospheres of pressure — not exactly the specs of the [Death Star](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-orbital-space-weapon>).

## Prototype

The director of DIU's Space Portfolio, Col. Steve Butow, told *Breaking Defense* that the organization is more interested in laying out the basic groundwork of a dedicated orbital platform for the Pentagon — upgrades for [specific military applications](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-war-usa-china-russia>) can always come later.

"In short, we are casting a wide net for commercial solutions that can meet the basic needs described in the first part of the solicitation (autonomous/robotic, etc)," Butow emailed to *Breaking Defense.* Here's hoping whichever contractor gets the job remembers to cover up those pesky exhaust ports.

**READ MORE:** [Pentagon Eyes Military Space Station](<https://breakingdefense.com/2019/07/pentagon-eyes-military-space-station/>) \[*Breaking Defense*\]

**More on space warfare:** *[India Just Announced That It's Developing Space Weapons](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/india-developing-space-weapons>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)