Originally Posted by
Tyndmyr
Oh, sure. Colonies often end up eventually becoming their own country. I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually get to some sort of Expanse like scenario with different factions, effectively nations and nation-like groups with substantial independence. A lot of that is just distance. If you're a several month trip away, you end up having to make decisions locally.
That's some distance away, though. Right now, most spaceflight is, in practice, satellites, almost all of which are orbiting earth and serving needs for people here. Thus, spaceflight remains very earth-centric. I'd love for us to get to that sci-fi world, but we have a lot to do before we make that leap.
I do hope we build such a station. It's possible to do it even within the limits of Starship-sized fairing spaces by attaching a counterweight to a station by a cable and spinning it up. This is mechanically more complex than a non-orbiting station, and it makes docking, etc more challenging, but I think it's something we probably need to start working on.
That's one of those big barriers to orbital colonization. So long as folks have the muscle atrophy issue even with fairly routine workouts, it's a big obstacle to living there.