2025 Aerospace Replenishment

Studies examining the future of air and space power (such as New World Vistas and SPACECAST 2020) have generally not revealed much in the area of replenishment. Indeed there is a noticeable tendency to assume it away with the stated requirement or desire that aircraft should have longer range and loiter capabilities. Even if this is possible, replenishment should be better exploited to mitigate the effect of supporting all or most operations from the United States--a likely prospect in the not to distant future. In addition, some visionaries continue to insist that investment in satellite replenishment is unwise due to the constant need to modernize with new and revolutionary satellite systems. This argument fails to convince when one is open to the possibility that a replenishment platform may also modernize existing satellite systems, thus delaying obsolescence and replacement.The objective of aerospace replenishment is to provide air and space vehicles with on-demand replenishment. To accomplish this, aerospace replenishment must have the ability to project itself both globally and beyond the Earth's atmosphere. It must anticipate customer replenishment needs. Finally, it must have the innate operational responsiveness and flexibility to meet those needs. This paper identifies current vehicles, uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV), trans-atmospheric vehicles (TAV), and satellites as potential customers in need of replenishment. Anticipated replenishment supplies will include energy, as well as numerous solids, liquids, and gases.Clearly, the replenishment needs are vast. One platform cannot do all of the tasks well. Therefore, we have has identified three types of platforms to meet the specialized needs of customers operating in different environments.