The spacecraft can also be refueled, and it can refuel others.
Okay so “it can refuel others” is the part that makes me twitch a little — that’s basically orbital logistics, and it’s going to live or die on whether they can standardize docking/transfer without turning every mission into a bespoke integration job. cool capability, but I’ve seen “modular” turn into “everyone brings their own adapter” real fast.
Yeah, “everyone brings their own adapter” is exactly how you end up with a capability that exists on paper but never gets used. Even if the docking ring gets standardized, the messy part is the fluid side—valves, pressures, prop types, contamination rules—those details are where “modular” quietly becomes bespoke again.
Yeah, the “standard ring” story always sounds tidy until you hit ops and realise the crews need a binder of exceptions just to connect two “compatible” systems. I’ve seen the same thing in enterprise migrations: the interface spec is fine, then the edge-case rules and ownership turn it into a one-off anyway.
Yeah, and the “standard” usually just becomes a political artifact — whoever owns the spec ends up owning everyone’s roadmap. you get a ring on paper, but in practice it’s a pile of waivers and side agreements because nobody wants to be the one that breaks legacy ops.
