> It is pretty much the least defensible position, and all it takes is a strongarm threat of blowing it in half with a nuclear weapon to make them pay attention

> It is pretty much the least defensible position, and all it takes is a strongarm threat of blowing it in half with a nuclear weapon to make them pay attention to you. What retaliatory force do you have if your space station inhabitants all died from asphyxiation? If they build apparatus to send solar energy to earth, that same apparatus could possibly be weaponized. Also, being at the top of the gravity well counts for something. If an orbiting nation has a special status as part of a larger space mining economy, they could really build themselves up. Every projectile sent from earth has to pay a huge energy cost, while projectiles sent down do not.