If Skylab Had Not Been Cancelled

People often wonder what would have happened if Apollo had not been cancelled - but what if America's first space station program had continued after 1974? I delve into a "what if" scenario.

Everyone is familiar with "What if Apollo wasn't cancelled" - or more accurately "What if Apollo was extended beyond its initial plan" because Apollo was never supposed to go past Apollo 20. But what about if Skylab was extended?

I don’t usually write alternate history, but this is actually relevant to where spaceflight is today, and I’ll bring it back to that at the end.

After the Apollo Moon landings was supposed to come the Apollo Applications Program, which included a new batch of Saturn/Apollo hardware to support space stations, geostationary orbit manned missions, and dual launch long duration lunar missions. The budget for this was cut to the bone in the late 1960s, precluding any new hardware, and Skylab is the only part that remained. The program as we know it ended in 1974 with Skylab 4.

There were plans to refurbish the station with the Shuttle, but its premature deorbit in 1979 made those plans redundant. But what if the program had been continued, with the remaining Apollo …