![](https://spaceforcejournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Cosmic-Sandbox-A...-Mars-Explorers-blue-paint-1-1010x569.jpg)
By Carl Poole and Robert A. Bettinger
ABSTRACT
Space operations will move beyond near-Earth space into the cislunar environment and even beyond by the mid to late 2020s. Reinvigorated U.S. civil and commercial initiatives will likely result in a return to the…