# Icarus Orbital Systems — System Architecture

> The technical architecture · three components · operational model. Source for all pitch content.

## Three-component fleet architecture

    graph TB
        subgraph SPACE["LEO Operations · ELEO 200-2000km"]
            PTOT[Primary Tele-Operated Tug<br/>Command + Control Hub]
            DF1[Dragonfly DF-1 Drone Flotilla<br/>Active capture · 6-DOF]
            OPS[Orbital Processing Stations<br/>Phase 2 · sort + refine]

            PTOT -->|directs| DF1
            DF1 -->|captures| DEBRIS[(Orbital debris<br/>1U CubeSat → fragments)]
            DF1 -->|transfers| PTOT
            PTOT -->|stages| OPS
            OPS -->|recovered material| SUPPLY[In-orbit supply chain]
            DEBRIS -.->|controlled deorbit alt| EARTH[Earth atmosphere]
        end

        subgraph GROUND["Ground Operations"]
            OPS_CTR[Tele-op + AI assist console]
            OPS_CTR -.->|commands| PTOT
        end

        style PTOT fill:#E0B25E,stroke:#B8893A,color:#0B1120
        style DF1 fill:#B8893A,stroke:#8B5E3C,color:#fff
        style OPS fill:#4FD8FF,stroke:#2B7AB8,color:#0B1120
        style SUPPLY fill:#3D7A4E,stroke:#1F4D4A,color:#fff

## Component A: Primary Tele-Operated Tug (PTOT)

Role: Command-and-control hub.

Attribute | Spec
--- | ---
Operation mode | Human-supervised + AI-assisted
Crew | None (uncrewed; ground-controlled)
Function | Coordinates Dragonfly fleet · stages captured material · interfaces with OPS
Direct debris contact | No — directs, doesn’t capture
Loss profile | Centralized · not in contact zone

## Component B: Dragonfly DF-1 drone flotilla

Role: Active debris interaction.

Attribute | Spec
--- | ---
Configuration | Modular · distributed fleet · 6-DOF maneuverability
Propulsion | Hall-effect (xenon) primary + hydrogen peroxide RCS thrusters
Capture systems | Articulated end-effector (stable targets) + deployable nets (poly-mylar + carbon-strand for tumbling fragments)
Target range | 1U CubeSat → large fragments
Resilience | Distributed — loss of one unit = degraded ops, not failure

## Component C: Orbital Processing Stations (OPS) [Phase 2]

Role: Sort · refine · stage recovered material for in-orbit reuse or controlled deorbit.

Attribute | Spec
--- | ---
Location | ELEO (Equatorial Low Earth Orbit) · 200-2000km altitude · ±5° latitude
Why ELEO | Geometry minimizes inclination changes between debris-dense zones
Output | Recovered metals · composites · fed back to in-orbit supply chain
Phase | 2 (after demonstration mission validates capture economics)

## Operational model — Orbital Dredging

    flowchart LR
        A[1. Identify debris-dense corridor] --> B[2. Position PTOT]
        B --> C[3. Deploy Dragonfly flotilla]
        C --> D[4. Capture · stabilize · transfer]
        D --> E{5. Process or deorbit?}
        E -->|process| F[OPS · refine · stage]
        E -->|deorbit| G[Controlled re-entry]
        F --> H[Material recovery revenue]
        D --> I[Removal contract revenue]
        style I fill:#3D7A4E,stroke:#1F4D4A,color:#fff
        style H fill:#3D7A4E,stroke:#1F4D4A,color:#fff

Each step is independently revenue-generating. Phase-1 economics (debris removal) close before OPS comes online.

## Why distributed beats monolithic

Architecture choice | Pro | Con
--- | --- | ---
Distributed Dragonfly fleet (chosen) | Loss of 1 unit = degraded ops · scalable · parallel work | More units to manufacture · coordination overhead
Single large tug (alternative) | Simpler ops · one mission · centralized control | Single point of failure · serial work · risk concentration

Distributed wins for resilience + parallelism. Coordination overhead solved via PTOT + AI-assist.

## Why tele-op + AI assist beats fully autonomous

Architecture choice | Pro | Con
--- | --- | ---
Tele-op + AI assist (chosen) | Insurance approval · regulatory posture · human-in-loop trust | Slower than fully autonomous · ground crew cost
Fully autonomous | Faster cycles · no comms latency | Insurance · regulatory · fail-mode liability open question

Tele-op + AI gets us to operations sooner. Fully autonomous is a Phase-3 transition, not a Day-1 decision.

## Cross-references

- [[01_strategy]]
- [[02_action_plan]]
- [[../IOS_03_System_Architecture]] — full technical spec source
- [[../IOS_05_Technology]] — propulsion + capture details
- [[../Dragonfly Design Project/Dragonfly_Drone_Concept_Design]]