The Pentagon Wants Its Own Tiny Space Station

An arm of the Defense Department wants ideas for a future robotic space station. The Orbital Outpost would support the military’s fleet of space satellites, conduct experiments, and even someday expand to support humans. Don’t get too excited about the human aspect: the first iteration will have an internal volume smaller than a camping tent. The Defense Innovation Unit is an arm of the Pentagon, growing companies with big, defense-related ideas. The DIU, which describes itself as “a fast-moving government entity that provides recurring revenue to companies to solve national security problems," has invested in companies both small and large in technologies such as internet security, robotics, communications, unmanned systems, computing, additive manufacturing, and space technologies. More

(Source: Popular Mechanics - Jul 6)