So guess what the Pentagon's research arm is up to? Recycling in space. They are planning to go into space, grab a dead satellite and stripping it of all it's useful parts and using them to either build a new one or revitalize the old one. DARPA's Phoenix program, which hopes to repurpose retired satellites while they remain in orbit, seeks to fundamentally change how space systems could be designed here on earth and then sustained once in space.