← SCP Cost Explorer Read on SCP Wiki ↗
SCP-5658 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-5658
Expected annual
$657.0M
One-time setup
$3.6B
Annual recurring
$612.0M
Personnel
300
Corrected estimate: Foundation operational one-time setup ~$3.61 billion (satellites, habitat deployment, ground facilities, labs, initial R&D) and recurring operations ~ $612 million/year (staff, satellite/probe ops, crisis reserves). Systemic economic impact if the projected orbital change proceeds is multiple trillions (itemized below) and is NOT a Foundation expenditure. This revision removes an earlier unitemized multi-hundred-billion line for "full-scale trajectory correction" (deemed infeasible) and zeroes global concealment costs because public exposure at planetary scale is not realistically containable.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $3.6B
Lunar Habitat Deployment $1.4B
Itemized modular temporary lunar outpost to re-establish on-site study capability: fabrication/manufacture of modules $600M, dedicated launches for modules and habitat infrastructure $500M, life-support and power systems $200M, EVA suits/rovers and surface equipment $100M. Note: previous Orion-4 outpost was destroyed; this is a replacement with hardened design.
Cis Lunar Satellite Constellation $1.3B
Itemized: 6 dedicated monitoring orbiters @ $120,000,000 each = $720,000,000 (bus + sensors), launch services piggyback/medium-launches for 6 craft @ $80,000,000 each = $480,000,000, ground-segment integration/tools = $60,000,000. Purpose: continuous high-precision lunar mass/gravity monitoring and communications relay.
Facilities $300.0M
Construction/upgrade of an Earth-based lunar monitoring and continuity-of-operations center and hardened archives/bunkers to preserve data/personnel continuity (server rooms, secure vault space, physical archive buildout).
Sample Quarantine Facility $200.0M
High-containment sample processing and quarantine facility on Earth (cleanrooms, contamination-control airlocks, specialized mass-spectrometry suites) to receive and analyze returned lunar materials.
Equipment $180.0M
Procurement of mission-critical hardware not classed as facilities: rovers/drones for lunar deployment, ground-segment telemetry hardware, secure on-site lab instrumentation racks, and mobile containment crates for sample transport.
Launch Pad Upgrades $120.0M
Targeted upgrades to one or two existing launch complexes to host a classified manifest and improve hardened comms/security for launch operations (physical security, SCIFs, comms hardening).
Specialized Instruments $80.0M
High-precision gravimeters, seismometers for lunar deployment, mass spectrometers for sample analysis, and calibration/contamination-control tooling.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $30.0M
Initial feasibility R&D for orbital/trajectory modelling, small-scale prototyping of mitigation concepts, and laboratory set-up for early experiments (computing, software development, modelling teams).
Hpc And Modeling $25.0M
Purchase and integration of HPC cluster nodes and software licenses specifically for high-fidelity orbital dynamics and coupled climate modelling tasks.
Classified Program Setup $15.0M
Legal/administrative setup, interagency MOUs, seed funds for front companies and covert procurement channels to establish a sustained lunar/cis-lunar program. Administrative one-time costs only.
Large Scale Engineering Attempt $0
Full-scale attempts to actively correct Earth's trajectory (megascale propulsion, global mass drivers, moving planetary masses) are judged infeasible with available timescale/technology. Per RULE 2 these are not costed as Foundation operational expenses; instead the Foundation performs limited feasibility studies (costed in initial_research_and_lab_setup) and preserves resources for achievable measures listed above.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $612.0M/yr
Crisis Management And Humanitarian $200.0M/yr
Foundation-funded limited humanitarian contingency to quietly assist affected Foundation assets/personnel and localized community supports where Foundation presence is responsible. This is NOT global adaptation spending; global-scale relief is outside Foundation operational budget and is tracked in systemic impacts.
Remote Probe Operations $120.0M/yr
Operations and maintenance of the cis-lunar satellite constellation, periodic small deep-space probe launches, data downlink/processing, and satellite replacement reserve.
Program Overhead And Contingency $102.0M/yr
20% contingency applied to recurring program items (excluding cover_story which is zeroed) to account for inflation, surge activity during reactivations, and unknowns.
Research And Monitoring $60.0M/yr
Ongoing modelling, data analysis, HPC operations, instrument maintenance/calibration, and funded research into SCP-5658's mechanism and short-term behaviour.
Staff Wages $45.0M/yr
Salaries and benefits for a core program staff (~300 personnel, fully-loaded average ~$150k/year) covering scientists, mission controllers, engineers, intelligence officers, and administrative support.
Facilities Maintenance $20.0M/yr
Maintenance, utilities, physical security, and minor upgrades for ground facilities, quarantine lab, and archive bunkers.
Security Forces And Counterintelligence $20.0M/yr
Asset protection, perimeter security for facilities, counterintelligence to protect critical program information (not mass global concealment), rapid-reaction teams for on-site incidents.
Logistics And Transport $15.0M/yr
Secure transport of personnel and small samples, covert logistics for specialist teams, and on-ground transport for sensitive movements.
Secure Communications Ops $15.0M/yr
Encrypted data backhaul, satellite bandwidth for command/data, and continuous infosec operations to maintain experiment integrity and protect archives.
Supplies And Consumables $10.0M/yr
Lab consumables, spare parts for surface/habitat systems, EVA suit servicing materials, fuel and pressurant reserves for small-vehicle operations.
Medical And Psych Support $3.0M/yr
Ongoing medical and psychological programs for mission crew, analysts, and first-responders; evacuation readiness for staff.
Insurance And Settlements $2.0M/yr
Small recurring pool for contractor incidents, one-off settlements with individuals directly affected by classified ops, and legal costs for limited litigation.
Cover Story And Legal $0/yr
Zeroed per RULE 3: the projected orbital/planet-scale effects (planet on collision course with Sun / major orbital shift visible globally) make long-term concealment of the anomaly at scale infeasible; Foundation will not invest in global falsification campaigns for events this large. The Foundation instead focuses on direct mitigation, preservation, monitoring, and coordination.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $612.0M/yr
85.0% probability / year
Sustained covert study and monitoring program with no major additional incidents; no successful large-scale mitigation; preparation and preservation operations only.
regular_satellite_operations steady_staffing_and_research limited_localized_resupply
🚨 Minor Incident $662.0M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$50.0M vs baseline
Localized operational failures, a launch loss, or a whistleblower requiring emergency response, legal payouts, and an operational surge.
launch_accident targeted_data_leak localized infrastructure failure
🚨 Catastrophic Response $1.4B/yr
5.0% probability / year +$800.0M vs baseline
Rapid-onset confirmation that SCP-5658's activation has produced a sustained, civilization-level orbital threat, prompting emergency preservation and 'last-resort' preservation spending by the Foundation (archives, seed/biobank surges, sheltering of critical personnel, limited high-priority launches for data/seed dispatch).
confirmed_sustained_orbital_shift widespread_environmental_disruption urgent_preservation_program_activation
👥 Personnel 300 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 110 Orbital dynamics/climate modelers, gravimetry experts, lab analysts, instrumentation scientists and data analysts supporting monitoring and modelling (consistent with research_and_monitoring line).
Security Officer / MTF Agent 70 Asset protection, rapid-reaction teams for facilities and launches, and limited counterintelligence operations focused on protecting high-value assets (consistent with security_forces_and_counterintelligence).
Mission Crew / Astronauts 20 Trained EVA specialists and small rotation crews for any contingency surface or habitat operations (reduced crew size given the program's focus on remote probes and the destruction of the prior Orion-4 outpost).
Engineer / Maintenance 50 Habitat, satellite, ground-system, and launch-support engineers and technicians.
Administrative Staff 30 Program managers, procurement, legal advisors for limited unavoidable legal work, liaison officers with external partners (not for public falsification campaigns).
Medical Officer 10 Medical and psychological support staff for mission crew and core program personnel.
Executive / Senior Leadership 10 Site directors, mission leads, and emergency program executives coordinating Foundation response.
📋 Confidence Notes
This re-evaluation corrects earlier violations: removed an unitemized >$1B single-line engineering cost and replaced it with explicit, itemized one-time components; zeroed cover-up expenditures where concealment is impossible; and explicitly declined to cost attempts at full orbital correction which are judged infeasible. Remaining uncertainty stems from lack of canonical engineering detail about SCP-5658's mechanism and the timeframe over which the Foundation can execute lunar operations; hence medium confidence.
← SCP-5657 ↑ All SCPs SCP-5659 →