So I have been studying about momentum and newton's second law. And I was wondering, if an object is traveling in space. If the object has a mass $m$ and a velocity ${\bf v}$ with an acceleration ${\bf a}$ which is due to some force that causes the body to accelerate and let's say there are no other forces acting on it.
Now ${\bf F} = m{\bf a}$, so does this mean that the object has potential to exert force when it comes in contact with another object or is it constantly applying force onto space or it tells us about the force which causes its in motion?