The National Aeronautics and Space Administration intends to build a robotic "gas station" in space to service satellites orbiting the Earth.

There are thousands of satellites circling the planet, transmitting data for weather forecasts, television shows and global positioning system navigation signals, among many functions. All these satellites run on fuel.

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When this fuel runs out, satellites have several more years before they either burn-up upon rentry into the atmosphere or float as derelicts in space.

Florida's Kennedy Space Center partnered with NASA's Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland in 2011 to formulate a strategy to refill satellite fuel stores.

"NASA hopes to add precious years of functional life to satellites and expand options for operators who face unexpected emergencies, tougher economic demands and aging fleets," said Bob Granath of NASA.

The robotic gas station can also be equipped with tools to build completely new structures in orbit or fix broken spacecraft, according to Fox News.

Refueling satellites will help reduce the number of satellites sent into space. In effect, the number of obsolete satellites and the amount of garbage orbiting the Earth will also be reduced.

The project will also reduce the number of expensive programs that launch the satellites into space.

There are currently 100 satellites owned by the United Stated government and 360 commercial communication satellites in a region 22,236 miles above Earth, which is called the geosynchronous orbit level.

"The capability to refuel and repair satellites at this orbit could make GEO [geosynchronous Earth orbit] more sustainable and help mitigate orbital debris problems," officials at NASA wrote on their website. 

TagsNASA, Satellite, Communications Satelites, Communications, Space, Orbit