The Salvage Operation Washington Refused to Fund: How the Space-to-Space Economy Became a Policy Casualty

NASA is spending $1.5 billion to destroy the International Space Station — 420 metric tons of space-grade titanium, aluminum, and recoverable hardware SpaceNews — at the exact moment the commercial space economy is trying to build the orbital logistics infrastructure that would make that material invaluable. Meanwhile, 10 to 20 functioning geostationary satellites retire each year not because they have failed, but because they have run out of fuel Green Launch. The space-to-space economy — orbital fuel depots, refueling shuttles, debris recycling, in-space manufacturing — is no longer theoretical. China demonstrated the first GEO refueling in November 2025 with Shijian-25 Green Launch. Four U.S. government servicing missions launch in 2026 Green Launch. Orbit Fab closed a $20 million Series B in March 2026 and signed a $20 million DoD fuel contract — 100 kilograms of hydrazine in geostationary orbit ExterJSC. But the policy foundation underneath is crumbling. NASA's April 2026 RFI floated a government-owned station module, threatening to strand the commercial ecosystem before it matures SpaceNews SpacePolicyOnline. The Space Force has explicitly called for satellites that can maneuver without regret. No institutional mechanism exists to build the orbital depot infrastructure that would supply that propellant.