File:Depot at GEO.jpg

English: The key is to get a commercial interest that depots can be profitable and that a good business case exists. A growing interest in servicing satellites in GEO may provide some of the near term customers needed. It is a common location for a large number of satellites, many which are at or nearing the end of their useful life. Concentrating on the larger government satellites should be profitable and once a working depot has been demonstrated other applications would expect to follow. These services would be considerably different than those needed for exploration – different propellants, different locations, different applications, etc. But establishing commercial ownership and operations would be profound. A simple GEO depot could be done relatively soon using existing launch vehicles.