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SCP-7896 Safe ? low confidence
SCP-7896
Expected annual
$210.7M
One-time setup
$1.9B
Annual recurring
$177.1M
Personnel
20
One-time capital needs (vessels, cloaking hardware, quantum R&D and specialized mission gear) drive the largest expenditures (~$1.9B one-time), while recurring mission operations, escort/station-keeping, monitoring, covert operations, and R&D/testing drive annual costs (~$177M/yr).
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.9B
Equipment $1.3B
[#3, #4, #5, #11, #15] Retrieval/escort vessel procurement/retrofit (#3), cloaking/hardware provisioning (#4), non-lethal interdiction mount kits (#5), secure data/storage provisioning (#11), and communications/backbone relays (#15) capital hardware costs aggregated.
Initial Research And Lab Setup $300.0M
[#8] Orthogonal quantum superposition R&D lab buildout and specialized quantum engineering facilities (resonators, stabilizers, containment fields).
Extraction Mission $200.0M
[#9] Dedicated specialized extraction mission deployment capital (ship-specific payloads, remote manipulators, mission integration) estimated as a one-time mission cost.
Contingency Reserve $50.0M
[#17] One-time reserved contingency fund for emergency replacement vessels or rapid-response assets.
Insurance Buffer $20.0M
[#21] One-time insurance/financial buffer reserve to cover capital write-offs and inter-departmental cost-sharing.
Disposal $10.0M
[#20] Secure destruction/archival and physical disposal of mission artifacts and hardware upon termination.
Facilities $2.0M
[#10] Secure quarantine and medical/psychological facility initial setup estimated at $0.5M–$5M; midpoint used for one-time facilities buildout.
Cover Story Development $2.0M
[#19] One-time public cover-story and information-distribution assets development (staged narratives, PR assets).
Training Setup $1.0M
[#13] One-time setup cost for specialized training simulators and initial scenario planning for non-lethal interdiction and extraction rehearsals.
Debris Modeling One Time $1.0M
[#18] Initial debris/impact/EM emissions modeling and planetary-risk assessment analysis one-time study.
Program Aggregate $0
[#25] Aggregate/order-of-magnitude note (referential): ranges provided in note #25; not double-counted here.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $177.1M/yr
Logistics And Transport $60.0M/yr
[#2] Deep-space vessel station-keeping, tugs, on-orbit fuel consumption, thruster maintenance and crew support; annualized estimate within $20M–$200M/year range.
Quantum Testing Ops $25.0M/yr
[#8] Recurring testing ops, prototype trials, mission integration and deployment support for quantum R&D (annual testing/op costs within $10M–$100M range).
Long Range Monitoring $23.0M/yr
[#6] Time-sharing on deep-field observatories, prioritized array time ($5M–$30M/yr) plus compute/analyst costs ($1M–$5M/yr) combined.
Mission Control Ops $18.0M/yr
[#1] Dedicated reconnaissance mission extension, mission-control staffing, telemetry, mission-planning and software support (annualized portion of the $15M–$75M 2–3 year extension).
Cloaking Operations $15.0M/yr
[#4] Annual operating and maintenance costs for long-range stealth/sensor cloaking and comms suppression gear (estimated $5M–$50M/yr).
Covert Intel Ops $10.0M/yr
[#7] Covert intelligence, psy-ops, diplomatic suppression and outreach operations to intercept or misdirect external discoveries ($2M–$50M/yr range).
Staff Wages $6.0M/yr
[#12] Salaries for core team (researchers, quantum engineers, mission crew, data scientists, engineers) including hazard premiums; estimate chosen within $2M–$10M/year range.
Non Lethal Interdiction Maintenance $6.0M/yr
[#5] Maintenance, training, and consumables for non-lethal interdiction systems on escort/patrol ships ($2M–$20M/year range).
Communications Operations $3.0M/yr
[#15] Operations of redundant secure relays, latency mitigation and link upkeep ($1M–$10M/yr range).
Cultural Engagement $3.0M/yr
[#23] Ongoing cultural/anthropological monitoring and diplomatic engagement funds ($0.5M–$10M/yr range).
Supplies And Consumables $2.0M/yr
[#16] Consumables and life-support resupply (food, medical supplies, spare parts) estimated per deployed ship/crew; assumed one deployed crew baseline.
Secure Compute And Storage $2.0M/yr
[#11] Ongoing compute time, cloud/quantum cycles and staff for secure data analysis and storage ($0.5M–$5M/yr range).
Cover Story And Legal $1.0M/yr
[#14, #19] Ongoing legal, ethics oversight, review board operations and public monitoring/response ($200k–$2M/year) and recurring cover-story maintenance.
Quarantine Care $800K/yr
[#10] Ongoing medical/psych care, monitoring and long-term rehabilitation costs ($200k–$2M/yr range).
Psychological Support $800K/yr
[#22] Ongoing psychological risk mitigation and family support programs ($200k–$2M/yr range).
Specialized Training $500K/yr
[#13] Annual refresher training and simulation exercise costs ($100k–$1M/yr range).
Debris Modeling $500K/yr
[#18] Ongoing impact forecasting and modeling until destruction ($100k–$1M/yr range).
Audit Missions $500K/yr
[#24] Periodic high-security verification and audit missions ($100k–$2M/yr range).
Facilities Maintenance $0/yr
[]
Research And Monitoring $0/yr
[]
Program Aggregate Recurring $0/yr
[#25] Aggregate recurring note (referential); operational costs are captured individually above.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $177.1M/yr
85.0% probability / year
Normal operational year with no major incidents; routine monitoring, escort operations, R&D testing and standard covert/cover activities continue.
planned operations standard monitoring scheduled R&D tests
🚨 Minor Incident $207.1M/yr
12.0% probability / year +$30.0M vs baseline
Localized containment incident or unexpected close-approach by third-party traffic requiring emergency interdiction, extra covert ops, and a limited recovery/resupply mission.
unauthorized approach temporary sensor breach limited equipment failure
🚨 Major Breach $1.2B/yr
3.0% probability / year +$1.0B vs baseline
Major mission failure or destructive event (loss of primary vessel, stargoing critical altering mission profile) requiring replacement vessel procurement, large-scale recovery/rescue, or accelerated quantum retrieval effort.
vessel loss star destabilization large-scale containment failure
👥 Personnel 20 total
Role Count Notes
Research Scientist 4 [#12] Lead researchers and mission science staff included in staff_wages estimates.
Quantum Engineer 3 [#8, #12] Quantum R&D and engineering specialists for OQS retrieval development; salaries accounted under staff_wages and quantum_testing_ops.
Mission Crew / Pilot 4 [#1, #12] On-orbit mission crew and pilots for reconnaissance and escort operations.
Security Officer / MTF Agent 2 [#5, #12] Security liaisons for non-lethal interdiction and escort security; included in staff_wages.
Data Scientist / Analyst 2 [#6, #11, #12] Analysts for long-range monitoring, signal analysis and data storage/compute work.
Engineer / Maintenance 2 [#2, #3, #12] Ship and relay maintenance staff supporting station-keeping and equipment upkeep.
Medical Officer 1 [#10, #12] Medical staff for quarantine and return monitoring; recurring care budget covers operations.
Administrative Staff 1 [#1, #12] Mission planners, logistics coordinators and administrative support.
Psychologist / Counselor 1 [#22, #12] Ongoing psychological support for staff and families; covered by psychological_support recurring budget.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates are low-confidence due to wide ranges and the dominant uncertainty in quantum-retrieval R&D (item #8) and potential need for bespoke interstellar assets; many costs depend on reuse of existing Foundation assets versus full bespoke builds.
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