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SCP-7936 Unknown ~ medium confidence
SCP-7936
Expected annual
$101.7M
One-time setup
$1.2B
Annual recurring
$75.7M
Personnel
58
One-time program buildout (retrieval hardware, orbital freezer or large retrieval program, and lab/facility upgrades) drives capital costs into the hundreds of millions to over a billion; annual operations (staff, monitoring, PR/legal, contingency reserve) dominate recurring costs at tens of millions per year.
🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.2B
Orbital Freezer Module $500.0M
[#15] Design, build, launch and initial commissioning of a large autonomous orbital storage/freezer module sized to hold many instances in vacuum/inert atmosphere.
Retrieval Missions Program $400.0M
[#3] Robotic/crewed retrieval program costs to bring many specimens to Earth (multi-rendezvous missions, capture modules and reentry hardware).
Orbital Manipulators $200.0M
[#2] Development/purchase/launch integration of reusable servicer or fleet of small tugs to rendezvous and impart delta-v (one-time capital for hardware & integration).
Initial Research And Lab Setup $32.5M
[#5, #6, #20] BSL-3/4 lab build/upgrade and initial research seed funding and representative forensic program (lab build $30M + initial forensic/sample program $1.5M + research seed $1M).
Facilities $15.0M
[#4] Purpose-built vacuum/inert warehouse or high-containment facility buildout to receive specimens on Earth; security perimeter and BSL ventilation included.
Equipment $5.0M
[#5] Specialized pathology and containment equipment, vacuum chamber hardware and lab instrumentation for high-containment autopsy/pathology.
Initial Recovery Capex $5.0M
[#8] Initial acquisition or retrofitting of recovery ship/charter capability and integration equipment for capsule recovery and secure transport.
Disinformation Setup $5.0M
[#11] Initial creation of cover research, PR infrastructure, fake-journal scaffolding and rapid-response media tooling to seed the astronomical cover story.
Legal Liaison Setup $5.0M
[#12] Up-front legal liaison, multi-jurisdictional coordination setup and initial covert payments framework.
Cybersecurity Setup $1.2M
[#18] Initial TEMPEST, network isolation, secure comms and hardened IT systems deployment to prevent leaks.
Document Purge Initial $500K
[#13] Initial document removal/falsification campaign, IT erasure and physical file alteration for exhumation-mismatch cases.
Cremation Disposal Infrastructure $500K
[#17] Initial licensing, high-containment cremation/incineration capability and cover disposal planning should ground-neutralization be chosen.
Training Program Setup $200K
[#19] Initial staff training program, anomaly-handling drills and psychological-support program establishment.
🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $75.7M/yr
Contingency Reserve $50.0M/yr
[#16] Annual reserve set-aside for emergency incident response, large-scale PR buyouts, crash recovery and cross-jurisdictional contingencies.
Staff Wages $9.0M/yr
[#7] Salaries, benefits and contractor fees for ~40–100 core staff including security, scientists, engineers, mission ops and medical staff.
Cover Story And Legal $7.0M/yr
[#11, #12] Ongoing disinformation/PR campaign costs, legal retainers, covert liaison payments and media monitoring to maintain cover stories.
Research And Monitoring $5.3M/yr
[#1, #5, #6, #14, #20] Continuous space surveillance/SSA contracts and data analysis, lab operations/certifications, orbital-debris coordination planning and long-term research program funding.
Orbital Maneuver Ops $2.0M/yr
[#2, #14] Fuel, ops and mission tasking fees for performing occasional re-orbits, clustering and avoidance maneuvers using servicers or tugs.
Logistics And Transport $1.0M/yr
[#8] Annual charters, recovery-event logistics, secure trucking and chain-of-custody transport for capsules and specimens.
Supplies And Consumables $400K/yr
[#6, #10] Autopsy consumables, PPE, disinfectants, single-use containment materials and regulated biohazard disposal per autopsy throughput.
Cybersecurity Monitoring $400K/yr
[#18] Ongoing monitoring, audits and secure-communications maintenance to prevent staff leaks and external breaches.
Facilities Maintenance $300K/yr
[#4, #9] Power, HVAC, vacuum pumps and maintenance for on-Earth containment chambers and facility infrastructure.
Training Ongoing $150K/yr
[#19] Annual drills, refresher training and employee assistance/psych support for staff handling anomalous material.
Document Purge Monitoring $100K/yr
[#13] Ongoing record monitoring, IT maintenance and small-scale document/fake-record operations to maintain cover.
⚡ Cost Scenarios
📊 Baseline (baseline) $75.7M/yr
84.0% probability / year
Normal year: continuous monitoring, routine maintenance, staffing, PR/legal and reserve funding with no major incidents or large retrieval campaigns.
no public exposure no large retrievals stable orbital distribution
🚨 Minor Incident $80.7M/yr
10.0% probability / year +$5.0M vs baseline
Localized veiling failure or recovery complication requiring rapid-response, limited emergency retrievals and increased PR/legal activity.
small-scale public sighting single recovery anomaly limited leak requiring PR
🚨 Major Breach $225.7M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$150.0M vs baseline
Significant exposure event (public crash, visible brightening, or multi-site electrical interference) requiring large incident response, legal payouts and emergency retrieval(s).
public recovery of specimen widespread veiling failure multi-jurisdictional legal action
🚨 Full Retrieval And Ground Containment $775.6M/yr
3.0% probability / year +$700.0M vs baseline
Deliberate multi-year program year in which large-scale retrievals and on-Earth containment efforts occur (mass returns, facility commissioning).
policy decision to retrieve many instances commissioning of retrieval program construction/commissioning of orbital freezer or major lab
👥 Personnel 58 total
Role Count Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent 10 [#7] 24/7 site security shifts and transport security.
Research Scientist 15 [#5, #6, #20] Forensic pathologists, virologists, astrophysics and multidisciplinary research staff.
Engineer / Maintenance 8 [#2, #4, #9] Facility engineers, vacuum system and freezers, and orbital hardware maintenance.
Mission Operators / Robotics 5 [#2, #3, #8] Orbital servicer operators, robotics pilots and launch integration staff.
Medical Officer / Forensic Technician 6 [#5, #6] Autopsy teams and sample processing technicians.
Containment Technician 8 [#4, #10, #17] On-site containment techs, biohazard handling and disposal operators.
Administrative Staff 3 [#11, #12, #13] Records management, cover-story coordination and logistic admin.
Site Director / Executive Staff 1 [#7] Program lead and executive oversight.
Cybersecurity / IT 2 [#18] Secure network operations and monitoring to prevent leaks.
📋 Confidence Notes
Estimates combine a range of aerospace, biosecurity and PR/legal costs; ranges in analyst notes are wide and many items depend on strategic choices (leave in LEO vs retrieve), so totals are indicative rather than precise.
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