THE HIGH COST OF TRANSPORTATION TO SPACE MISSION TARGETS IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE FACING BOTH PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES SEEKING TO ESTABLISH NEW INDUSTRIES IN SPACE AND NASA PLANNERS SEEKING TO BUILD AN AFFORDABLE BUT EXCITING PROGRAM OF HUMAN EXPLORATION BOWERSOX 2014 SQUIRES 2014. THERE EXISTS A POPULATION OF RESOURCE RICH NEAR EARTH ASTEROIDS THAT IS FAR MORE ENERGETICALLY ACCESSIBLE TO EARTH THAN THE SURFACE OF THE MOON OR ANY OTHER BODY. THESE STEPPING STONES TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM CONTAIN MILLIONS OF TONS OF HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE RESOURCES THAT COULD PROVIDE PROPELLANTS AND OTHER CONSUMABLES TO SOLVE THE IN SPACE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM LOVE 2014. HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE NEO RESOURCES MAY BE KEY TO OPENING THE SOLAR SYSTEM TO AFFORDABLE EXPLORATION AND LARGE SCALE INDUSTRIALIZATION. ANALYSIS IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE TO WHICH ASTEROID ISRU CAN PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ENABLING SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY BEYOND LEO. CAREFUL STUDY OF THE POSSIBLE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THIS POTENTIALLY IMPORTANT NEW RESOURCE IS ALSO NEEDED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR NASA MISSIONS PLANNERS. IN THE PROPOSED STEPPING STONES STUDY WE WILL ANALYZE MARKET MECHANISMS PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS NON TRADITIONAL COMMERCIAL ENTITIES ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COMPETITIVE STRESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE TECHNOLOGY TO EXPLOIT NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RESOURCES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SELF SUSTAINING REUSABLE SPACE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK. ANY TRANSPORTATION ARCHITECTURE THAT CAN EFFECTIVELY CAPITALIZE ON NEO RESOURCES MUST INCLUDE ASTEROID ISRU TECHNOLOGY REUSABLE SPACE TUGS AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT USE ASTEROID RESOURCES FOR PROPELLANT AND OTHER EXPENDABLES. ONE EXAMPLE OF SUCH AN ARCHITECTURE THAT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY NASA TECHNICAL REVIEW TEAMS AS INNOVATIVE AND WELL CONCEIVED IS APIS ASTEROID PROVIDED IN SITU SUPPLIES SERCEL 2014. THE APIS ARCHITECTURE INCLUDES A NEW APPROACH TO ASTEROID ISRU CALLED OPTICAL MINING SERCEL 2015. A CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION ASSOCIATED WITH APIS HAS RECENTLY BEEN PERFORMED BY THE PI OF THIS PROPOSAL UNDER NASA SPONSORSHIP AND FULL SCALE GROUND DEMONSTRATION BY TRANSASTRA CORPORATION IS PLANNED FOR FALL OF 2015 UNDER PRIVATE SECTOR FUNDING. MINING VEHICLES CALLED HONEY BEES USING THE APIS ARCHITECTURE ARE BEING DESIGNED BY THIS PI UNDER A SEPARATE NASA GRANT. WORKER BEES IS A SPACE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK DESIGN COMPRISED OF REUSABLE SPACE TUGS ORBIT TRANSFER VEHICLES THAT UTILIZE WATER PROVIDED BY HONEY BEES AS PROPELLANT IN SOLAR THERMAL ROCKET ENGINES. WORKER BEES IS DESIGNED TO REDUCE LAUNCH COSTS BY LARGE MULTIPLES FOR THE DELIVERY OF BOTH PRIVATE SECTOR SPACECRAFT AND NASA HUMAN EXPLORATION SYSTEMS BEYOND LEO REPLACING THE FUNCTION AND THE REQUIRED LIFT MASS OF ROCKET UPPER STAGES. WORKER BEES WILL CIRCULATE THROUGH MULTI LEGGED ROUTES BETWEEN AN ISRU PROPELLANT CACHE IN CIS LUNAR SPACE LEO AND DESTINATION ORBITS. BECAUSE IT HAS ALREADY BEEN CONCEPTUALLY DESIGNED BY THE PI OF THIS PROPOSAL THE APIS ARCHITECTURE WILL BE USED AS A TEST CASE IN THE PROPOSED STEPPING STONES STUDY AND AS A POINT OF DEPARTURE FOR RUNNING FINANCIAL SCENARIOS.