SPACE ART: Orbital Propellant Depot

This 1971 artist’s concept shows a Nuclear Shuttle (left) and an early Space Shuttle (right) docked with an Orbital Propellant Depot. As envisioned by Marshall Space Flight Center Program Development personnel, an orbital modular propellant storage depot, supplied periodically by the Space Shuttle or Earth-to-orbit fuel tankers, would be critical in making available large amounts of fuel to various orbital vehicles and spacecraft.