The Space Station will fulfill eight major functions: living area, laboratory for science and technology, permanent observatory of earth, servicing for spacecraft, station for space vehicles and payloads, manufacturing facility storage depot, and staging base for future space activity.

     Another idea worked on by such large aerospace companies as Grumman and McDonnell was the establishment of large solar-energy collectors mounted on platforms in low orbits.  Shuttles could service the platforms and bring the collected electrical power back to earth.