Spacecraft still require maintenance infrastructure

Future space docks might be slowly self-propelled maintenance facilities that reposition between the spacecraft needing them. Reusability does not eliminate overhaul work: SpaceX vehicles and especially the Space Shuttle still required extensive inspection between missions. The Shuttle example also links fleet size, planned mission tempo, service life, and the pressure to make maintenance ever faster. Because human inspectors miss things when driven continually against deadlines, complex transport systems need both adequate capacity and protected time to find faults. The Royal Navy's movable docks provide the historical analogy for keeping such infrastructure available where it is needed.