"The Sierra Nevada Corporation recently received a Pentagon contract to craft an
experimental space outpost capable of supporting various research and
development, training, and operational missions, including potentially with
humans aboard. This comes as the U.S. military as a whole, including the nascent
U.S. Space Force, is increasingly focused on operations in various orbits around
the Earth, and competition there, as well as in cislunar space between our
planet and the Moon.

On July 14, 2020, the Nevada-headquartered aerospace company announced the deal
with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), but did not state the approximate value
of the award. DIU is charged with "accelerating the adoption of leading
commercial technology throughout the military" and has offices in California's
Silicon Valley, as well as Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas, in addition
to its headquarters in the Pentagon.

The Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) will now modify its Shooting Star space
transport vehicle design as an Unmanned Orbital Outpost. The company has been
developing Shooting Star since at least 2016 for NASA's Commercial Resupply
Services (CRS) program, which is seeking new means of delivering cargo to the
International Space Station (ISS).

The existing 15-foot-long cargo vehicle is intended to be able to carry up
10,000 pounds of cargo, both inside in a pressurized compartment and in
unpressurized packages attached to three external mounting points. The design
has two solar panel arrays capable of generating six kilowatts of onboard power
and is capable of maneuvering independently in space using six thrusters. SNC is
hoping to conduct its first demonstration mission to the ISS using Shooting Star
next year."

See:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...-space-station