Proposed 5-drone decentralized swarm architecture for 1–10kg orbital debris management. We don't just remove debris — we aim to organize, preserve, and protect orbital infrastructure for a circular space economy.
LEO hosts ~2,000 active satellites alongside 8,000+ metric tons of debris. The 1–10kg debris class — fragments from defunct satellites, rocket bodies, and collision cascade products — generates the highest collision frequency per object yet remains untargetable by existing removal systems.
Astroscale and ClearSpace target 100kg+ objects at $82–110M per removal. At that cost, clearing 1–10kg debris — the most collision-prolific class — is economically irrational. Meanwhile, mega-constellations (Starlink: 6,000+, Amazon Kuiper: 3,236 planned) are compounding the problem faster than any current platform can address it.
The orbital lane enforcement market requires a solution that is mass-producible, rideshare-deployable, and operationally scalable — addressing the economics of small debris without sacrificing safety or mission success.
The proposed swarm architecture uses a coordinated formation of five drones, intended for piggyback rideshare (ridesharing on telecom or logistics payloads to target orbital planes). The design goal is to reduce dedicated launch costs and enable systematic orbital band coverage after validation.
Proposed low-thrust, high-ISP cold gas (e.g., R236fa) for fine-grained delta-v maneuvers. The design target is multi-correction capability without propellant resupply; modeled total Δv budget: 120 m/s per drone.
Planned secondary-payload deployment on commercial LEO missions (Starlink, OneWeb, or ISS resupply). The $50–150K per-mission orbital-plane insertion figure is a planning estimate, not a contracted price.
Proposed onboard GNC (guidance, navigation, control) trained on orbital debris dynamics. The decentralized consensus protocol and GPS-denied relative navigation via LiDAR and visual-inertial odometry remain in development and validation.
Proposed electroadhesive contact pads for debris grapple and modeled formation-flying behavior for corralling multiple objects into a stable cluster or safe disposal orbit. Deorbit is planned only as a last resort.
Single-spacecraft ADR systems (Astroscale ELSA, ClearSpace-1) are engineering marvels but have a fundamental throughput ceiling: one target per mission. They also destroy valuable material on atmospheric reentry.
Modeled five-drone formation behavior is intended to tag, track, and relocate multiple debris objects in a single orbital pass. The throughput concept scales with swarm count, not mission count, but is not a verified flight result.
Standard ADR: $82–110M/object. OLE v2.0 has a $2–5M design target per swarm deployment, with 3–5 objects per pass as a modeled scenario. The 1/10th cost comparison is directional, not verified performance.
A standardized drone bus is intended to support production-line manufacturing. The proposed addition of one swarm would add five capture agents; scalable orbital-lane coverage remains a future validation milestone.
Instead of controlled deorbit (burning valuable Al, Ti, rare metals), OLE v2.0 relocates debris to holding orbits for future in-space recycling, refurbishment, or recovery. Building toward a circular space economy.
| Factor | Astroscale ELSA-M | ClearSpace-1 | Rogue Space | OLE v2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target class | Large defunct satellites | 100kg+ rocket bodies | 100kg+ debris | 1–10kg fragments |
| Approach | Single chaser + client | Single capture arm | Robotic servicing arm | 5-drone decentralized swarm |
| Est. cost per operation | $82M | €110M | $40–60M | $2–5M |
| Objects per deployment | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3–5 |
| Material disposition | Controlled deorbit | Atmospheric burn | Deorbit / servicing | Relocate / preserve / recover |
| Swarm capability | No | No | Partial | Native — decentralized autonomy |
| Throughput advantage | 1 object per mission | 3–5x higher | ||
OLE v2.0 is proposed for the gap between existing approaches. The 1–10kg debris class is the lane we're building toward; operational economics remain a design hypothesis to validate.
In the modeled post-ejection scenario, a 5-drone formation distributes toward operational spacing (50–200m separation) and converges on a target altitude band. Formation establishment is a ~72-hour mission-design target, not a flight result.
Modeled FormationIn the proposed architecture, swarm sensors (LiDAR + computer vision) would scan an assigned orbital lane. The planned data flow logs debris signatures, propagates orbital elements, and uses modeled multi-sensor fusion to assign priority tags based on collision probability and material value.
Proposed ClassificationIn a modeled mission scenario, high-confidence debris targets would be approached using relative GPS-denied navigation. The proposed electroadhesive grapple and cold-gas sequence would safe-push targets to a designated relocation orbit (e.g., +50km above operational bands). The 2–3 relocations per orbital pass figure is a design target.
Modeled Non-DestructiveThe proposed design would use coordinated swarm geometry to corral high-value materials into a stable formation. Inter-drone ranging and low-thrust correction burns are planned behaviors; preservation as future resource inventory remains a mission objective, not a verified result.
Proposed Circular EconomyIn the proposed safety case, this mode would apply only to debris too unstable or fragmented for safe relocation. A coordinated deorbit sequence would aim to minimize cross-track debris spreading toward a South Pacific Oceanic Unpopulated Area (SPOUA) reentry corridor. Preservation remains the design default.
Last Resort OnlyThe proposed swarm architecture uses a three-layer collision avoidance design. New debris creation from mission operations would be treated as a Level 1 failure and mission-terminating event; this doctrine is not a verified flight result.
Planned TLE-based conjunction screening 72 hours ahead. The design would propagate swarm orbital state and check against an available catalog on a four-hour planning cadence; no operational feed is implied.
Proposed onboard LiDAR and vision-based relative sensing. In the modeled safety scenario, an untracked object entering a 5km safety bubble would trigger an avoidance maneuver; this behavior remains to be validated.
If the modeled swarm loses consensus connectivity, each drone is designed to execute a +5km dispersal maneuver and hold until ground re-contact. No verified flight behavior is implied.
Never Create New DebrisOrbitReclaim Safety Doctrine — governing principle for all OLE swarm operations
The proposed logging design would record thrust burns, avoidance maneuvers, and debris interactions with timestamp, drone ID, and orbital state. Regulatory-audit and USSPACECOM reporting availability would be future validation milestones.
The proposed post-capture documentation would include before/after orbital state vectors, mass estimate, and material composition. Registry, insurance, and liability integrations remain planned outcomes.
SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb. Proactive lane enforcement to protect operational assets. High-frequency, recurring revenue contracts.
Commercial and government satellite operators requiring debris risk reduction for high-value orbital slots (GEO, MEO).
Insurers pricing collision risk for LEO constellations. OLE data + enforcement services reduce loss-adjusted claims.
Targeting Space Force, NRL and NASA NIAC research calls. Any future funding, validation, or operational contract would be contingent on a qualifying call and award.
Future stage: material recovery partnerships. Corralled debris clusters become feedstock inventory for orbital manufacturing.
| Model | Description | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Mission Contracts | Per-orbital-plane lane enforcement contracts with mega-constellation operators. Fixed-scope missions: debris characterization + relocation. $1–3M per contract per orbital plane. | Near-term (2027–2028) |
| Subscription Monitoring | Ongoing orbit monitoring + enforcement services. SaaS-style pricing: $50–200K/year per monitored orbital slot. Recurring revenue, long-term contracts. | Medium-term (2028+) |
| Material Recovery Partnership | Revenue share from recovered materials (Al, Ti, rare metals) sold to in-space manufacturing operators. Future upside once corralling infrastructure is established. | Future-stage (2030+) |
If future Phase I funding is awarded, it would support the simulation + design validation stage; no hardware launch is required for that proposed scope. Any Phase II hardware development or NASA/DoD operational proposal would be conditional on funding, technical validation, and program fit.
Planned high-fidelity N-body simulation of 5-drone swarm operations across LEO orbital bands. It would model relocation and corral metrics: Δv budgets, inter-drone spacing tolerances, debris tagging accuracy, and formation stability under J2 perturbation.
Proposed engineering design package for the drone bus: cold-gas propulsion module, electroadhesive grapple system, LiDAR/vision sensor suite, and onboard compute (flight computer + neural inference engine). It would include mass, power, and thermal analyses.
Planned hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation of the decentralized swarm consensus protocol. The test plan would exercise GPS-denied relative navigation, multi-drone coordination under communication latency, and fail-safe dispersal behavior; no completed HIL or flight result is claimed.
Conditional Phase II pathway: If a future Phase I award, technical validation, and program fit are achieved, OLE v2.0 could seek $750K+ Phase II funding through an eligible NASA SBIR or SpaceWERX Orbital Prime opportunity and later pursue operational demo contracts. The SDA's $52.5M deorbit-as-a-service award to Starfish Space is market context, not OrbitReclaim funding, validation, or customer evidence.
Interested in SBIR partnership, operational debris contracts, or investment in OLE v2.0? Request a technical briefing — we'll walk through the simulation results, mission design, and partnership structures.