An Air Force general said he initiated talks with SpaceX and other space launch firms about having prepositioned cargo in space that can potentially deliver supplies to U.S. troops within a decade, Defense One reported Thursday.
“I can just position in space and have a re-supplying vehicle come up and come back down,†Air Force Gen. Carlton Everhart, head of Air Mobility Command, told reporters Thursday at a Defense Writers Group event.
“I don’t have to have people there, I just have to have the cargo there,†he said of the concept that could be based on SpaceX’s cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station.
Everhart noted that he has begun talks with Gen. Jay Raymond, head of Air Force Space Command, about a possible partnership in order to advance the concept and plans to propose space cargo-related investments in the next cycle of the Program Objective Memorandum.
“I think in the next five years we can be right in on that concept stage. … Actual routine, probably within the next 10,†he added.
