The «Gorilla»Solar system logistics

27 ноября, 2025

The «Gorilla» Logistics Architecture v6.0

🦍 The «Gorilla» Logistics Architecture

A Supply-Chain Approach to Solar System Civilization
Version 6.0 LOCKED
Authors:
Concept & Core Strategy: Ab (Горилла in Chief 🦍)
Aggressive Refinement: Deepseek | Title Polish & Meme Lord: Grok 4
Logistics, Biology & TRL Audit: Gemini (Google) | Momentum Physics & Catch Mechanics: Claude (Anthropic)

The Vision

The Gorilla Architecture is a comprehensive framework for cislunar and interplanetary logistics that separates transport functions by their physics constraints rather than forcing single-vehicle solutions. It recognizes that freight, migration, last-mile delivery, and strategic missions have fundamentally different optimization functions and should use specialized infrastructure.

Core Philosophy: Build modular, scalable, self-optimizing infrastructure that works with physics as it exists, not as we wish it to be. Each layer serves a specific function and can be upgraded independently without breaking the entire system.
Phase 0
Bootstrap
2025 tech foundation: equatorial launch + LEO depot + lunar fuel
Layer 0.5
Power Grid
Distributed solar laser stations providing propulsion energy
Layer 1
Freight Backbone
Orbital railgun swarms for high-volume cargo
Layer 2
Migration Arteries
Grand cyclers for continuous passenger transport
Layer 3
Last Mile
WAAM-printed taxis for surface-to-orbit shuttling
Layer 4
Strategic Muscle
Tech-agnostic high-Δv for time-critical missions

Phase 0: The Bootstrap

«Before we build the railroad, we must pour the concrete»

Key Principle: This phase uses only 2025-era technology. No waiting for breakthroughs.

The Launch: Equatorial Ports

We abandon political launch sites and build floating platforms at the Equator (e.g., Biak, Pacific Ocean) to maximize rotational velocity boost (~465 m/s free Δv).

  • Vehicle: Reusable Heavy Lift (Starship-class)
  • Mission Profile: Delivery to LEO only. Never direct to Moon.
  • Why LEO only: Fuel depot makes Earth→Moon launches unnecessary

The Depot: Station Alpha (LEO)

Primary orbital warehouse and «switching yard» where vehicles refuel before continuing to destinations.

Fuel Logic: The Contingency Tree
▶

Scenario A: Dry Moon (Hard Mode)

If lunar ice doesn’t exist or is inaccessible:

  • Launch fuel from Earth (expensive initially)
  • Once Layer 1 railguns come online, shoot fuel tanks to Moon cheaply
  • System works, just costs more in bootstrap phase

Scenario B: Wet Moon (Easy Mode)

If Shackleton Crater contains accessible ice:

  • Mining rigs extract Ice → refine to H₂/O₂
  • Vacuum Tugs (specialized Layer 3 vehicles) ferry fuel to LEO
  • Cost of spaceflight drops ~90% overnight
Conclusion: The project proceeds regardless of lunar geology. Wet moon is an economic breakthrough, not a requirement.

The Pivot: Economic Transform

With fuel depot operational, Earth rockets launch with 100% cargo mass, picking up return fuel in orbit. This fundamentally changes launch economics.

The Four Transport Layers + Power Grid

Layer Role Technology Key Logic
0.5 Power Grid Solar Laser Stations Distributed nodes; incremental deployment
1 Freight Backbone Orbital Railgun Swarms Packet switching; momentum exchange
2 Migration Arteries Grand Cyclers Scheduled intercepts; deterministic ephemeris
3 Last Mile Capillaries WAAM-Printed Taxis Simple, disposable workhorses
4 Strategic Muscle Tech-Agnostic Slot High Δv when efficiency doesn’t matter

Layer 0.5: The Power Grid (Laser Web)

Distributed constellation of autonomous laser stations providing propulsion energy to Layer 2 cyclers.

Station Design

  • Self-deploying solar arrays
  • Gimbaled beam directors
  • Station-keeping via momentum management
  • Delivered as compressed kits via Layer 1
  • Autonomous or minimally crewed
Deployment Strategy: Incremental Growth
▶

Phase 1: Minimal Viable Web

  • Stations only near major ports (Earth/Mars orbital space)
  • Cyclers boosted during departure/arrival windows
  • Effective beam range: 1-5 million km
  • Coverage: 10-20% of route

Phase 2: Route Densification

  • Traffic patterns reveal high-value boost zones
  • New stations deployed along proven cycler paths
  • Multiple smaller boosts instead of one large push
  • Coverage: 40-60% of route

Phase 3: Mature Network

  • Dense enough for nearly continuous low-level thrust
  • Maximum beam distance never exceeds ~10 million km
  • Like streetlights vs searchlights — many small beams
  • Coverage: Near-continuous
Self-Optimizing: Station placement driven by actual traffic. High-traffic routes automatically get denser coverage because that’s where economic return justifies expansion. Early cyclers are slower; as laser coverage improves, the same cyclers get faster transit without modification.

Economic Model

Stations charge by kilowatt-hour for boost service, funded by cycler operators or consortium. Infrastructure upgrade benefits all existing vehicles without retrofitting.

Layer 1: Orbital Railgun Swarms (The Freight Backbone)

Core Concept: A «Node» is not a single station but a swarm of railguns in different orbital planes, ensuring a gun is always pointing the right direction. This eliminates launch window wait times entirely.

Swarm Architecture

  • Equatorial Ring: High-frequency Moon/Earth traffic
  • Inclined Ring: Planetary transfers (Mars/Venus)
  • Result: Always have optimal launch geometry available
The Pod Design: Superconducting Passive Magnets
▶

The Physics: «Persistent Current»

High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) coils maintain a powerful magnetic field indefinitely once charged:

  • Zero resistance: Current flows forever (decades) without power
  • Cooling: Deep space is 2.7K; passive mylar sunshades maintain <77K easily
  • Charging: Inductive charging before launch; holds magnetic charge entire trip
  • Cost: ~$10-50K in HTS tape per pod, amortized over hundreds of uses
Critical Advantage: Pods remain simple pressure vessels with no batteries, fuel, or avionics. All complexity stays in the reusable stations.
The Catch Mechanism: Multi-Stage Guidance
▶

Stage 1: Launch Precision (10-100 km range)

Launching railgun aims pod to arrive within ~1km cone of receiving station

Stage 2: Magnetic Funnel (10-100 km range)

Station projects guidance field; pod’s superconducting field interacts for coarse alignment

Stage 3: Magnetic Flux Locking (1-10 km range)

Strong dipole-dipole interaction creates «compass effect» — pod naturally aligns to minimum energy state (passive stability)

Stage 4: Laser Ablation Correction (100m-1km)

Station fires laser at pod surface; paint vaporizes creating thrust for fine corrections. Ablative coating renewed during turnaround maintenance.

Stage 5: Regenerative Braking (final meters)

Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM) in reverse:

  • Pod enters coil-tube
  • Kinetic energy (½mv²) converts directly to electricity
  • Station batteries recharged for next shot
  • Open-tube safety: If brakes fail, pod exits far side; Layer 3 Tug recovers it
Power Challenge: Catching 10-ton pod at 5 km/s dumps 125 GJ in 10-30 seconds (4-12 GW instantaneous). Requires supercapacitor banks/flywheels to absorb spike and megawatt-scale cooling systems.

Momentum Management: The «Garbage Drive»

The Momentum Accountant
▶

Problem: Atmospheric drag (in LEO) slowly decays orbits

Solution: Schedule-based momentum exchange

  1. Wait for shipment bound for higher orbit
  2. Rotate railgun to face retrograde
  3. Fire cargo pod
  4. Recoil pushes station prograde, boosting orbit

Result: Free orbit maintenance while getting paid to ship cargo

Maneuvering Without Cargo

  • Load gun with waste/regolith/slag
  • Fire into graveyard orbit or atmospheric re-entry
  • Physics: Station moves
  • Implication: Railgun Station is a mass driver that occasionally shoots valuable things
The «Turret» Architecture: Vector Cancellation
▶

Station is gimbaled platform with 360° rotation on X, Y, Z axes:

  • Monday: Shoot Mars cargo (Recoil Vector A)
  • Tuesday: Shoot Venus cargo (Recoil Vector B)
  • Wednesday: Catch Moon cargo (Impact Vector C)
  • Math: A + B + C ≈ 0
  • Correction: Ion thrusters handle residual errors

Systematic Traffic Imbalance

During colonization phase where Mars-bound >> return traffic:

  • Let constellation slowly migrate, correct periodically
  • Route garbage dumps asymmetrically to compensate
  • Use traffic pattern itself as momentum source

The «Harbor» Protocol (Layer 1 ↔ Layer 3)

Railguns are dangerous, rotating precision instruments:

  • No ship docks with the Gun
  • Gun catches pod and releases to «Drift Zone»
  • Layer 3 Tugs («Yard Dogs») grapple pod
  • Tug shunts pod to separate Warehouse Station or descent vehicle

Layer 2: Grand Cyclers (The Migration Arteries)

The Ship: Massive O’Neill Cylinders with 1g spin gravity. They never land, never stop, and maintain deterministic trajectories.

Key Misconception Corrected: Cyclers are NOT high-speed intercepts requiring massive Δv. They’re scheduled infrastructure with pre-computed rendezvous windows.

Orbital Mechanics: Deterministic Ephemeris

  • Cyclers follow repeating, stable, high-energy trajectories (e.g., Aldrin CyclerA specific trajectory that repeatedly encounters Earth and Mars with minimal propulsion requirements, discovered by astronaut Buzz Aldrin)
  • Exact position and velocity known years in advance
  • Not «chasing» — all trajectories pre-computed
The «Tender» Protocol (Layer 2 ↔ Layer 3)
▶

Correct Operations Sequence:

  1. Planning: Cycler ephemeris published years in advance
  2. Launch Timing: Layer 3 Taxi launches hours to weeks early on pre-computed intercept trajectory
  3. Coast Phase: Taxi timing and Δv calculated so it naturally arrives at rendezvous with <100 m/s relative velocity
  4. Docking: ISS-style gentle berthing, not high-speed intercept
  5. Return: After transfer, taxi returns via efficient gravity-assist or low-thrust spiral
Analogy: Two trains meeting at planned junction where tracks merge, NOT a speedboat chasing a cruise ship.

Delta-v Budget: Primarily escape velocity + small corrections (~100 m/s) + return trajectory + landing. The «chase» scenario would be prohibitively expensive and is not how this works.

Propulsion

  • Cruising: Hybrid solar sails
  • Boost Zones: Laser web stations (Layer 0.5)
  • Advantage: As laser network densifies, existing cyclers get faster transits without modification

Service & Maintenance

Hot-swap components via docking maneuvers while maintaining trajectory. Secular perturbations corrected during service windows with small Δv additions every few years. Cyclers don’t «stop» — they get nudged back onto desired orbit during maintenance.

Scheduling Constraint: You can’t «catch the next cycler» on demand. You catch the next scheduled rendezvous window, which might be weeks away. This makes Layer 2 the low-Δv, high-capacity option for migration, while Layer 4 handles time-critical missions.

Layer 3: The «IKEA» Taxis (Last Mile Workhorses)

Design Philosophy: Simple, mass-produced, disposable vehicles. Cheap enough to be replaced rather than extensively repaired.

Roles

  • Surface ↔ Orbit: Escaping gravity wells
  • Orbital Shunting: Moving freight between Railguns, Warehouses, Cyclers
  • Cycler Intercepts: Scheduled rendezvous missions with Layer 2

Manufacturing: WAAM (Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing)

Units on Mars/Moon print these vehicles on-site using local materials:

  • Optimized for local gravity (Mars taxi ≠ Lunar taxi)
  • No need to ship entire vehicles from Earth
  • Reduces bootstrap mass requirements

Design Constraints

  • No complex systems requiring specialized maintenance
  • No expensive components that make repair preferable to replacement
  • Standardized interfaces for cargo, fuel, docking
  • Local propellant production (methalox from Mars/Moon resources)
Important: Layer 3 does NOT upgrade to high-Isp NTR when that technology matures. High-performance propulsion belongs in Layer 4 (strategic) or potentially Layer 2.5 (trunk routes). Taxis remain simple workhorses.

Layer 4: The Strategic Reserve (Tech-Agnostic Wildcard)

Core Philosophy: Layer 4 is the «plug» that accepts whatever propulsion technology currently exists for the mission profile «get there fast at any cost.»

Design Intent

Layers 1-3 form the stable backbone of civilization infrastructure. Layer 4 is the adapter layer that doesn’t break when propulsion tech changes.

Timeline Technology Isp Use Case
2025-2035 Solid-core NTR (NERVA baseline) 850-900s Current strategic fleet
2032-2040 Bimodal NTR 850s + power Long-range crewed with active shielding
2035-2045 LANTR (LOX-augmented) ~600s, 2-3× thrust Emergency «this synod» missions
2040-2050 Gas-core NTR 1,300-2,000s High-performance strategic
Available now Electric propulsion (Ion/Hall) 3,000-5,000s Slow freight that can’t use cyclers
2045-2065+ Fusion (if viable) 8,000-30,000s Potential architecture disruption

Current Baseline: NERVA-class NTR

  • Assembled in orbit
  • Fueled by Lunar Hydrogen (from wet moon scenario)
  • Use case: High-priority, time-sensitive missions
  • When you can’t wait for next cycler window and efficiency is secondary
The Fusion Question: Architecture Disruption
▶

If fusion works with reasonable thrust-to-weight, it doesn’t just upgrade Layer 4 — it potentially collapses the entire architecture:

  • Why railguns if every ship can sustain 1g acceleration?
  • Why cyclers if Mars transit drops to 2 weeks?
  • Why taxis if mothership can land directly?

Until Epstein drives: When we get magic torchships that break orbital mechanics entirely, we redesign everything. Until then, this architecture absorbs technological advancement without requiring fundamental changes.

Architecture Resilience

The system doesn’t collapse if:

  • NERVA gets politically cancelled
  • Fusion is delayed 50 years
  • Some unexpected breakthrough happens
  • Regulations restrict certain propulsion types

Railguns don’t care. Cyclers don’t care. WAAM-printed taxis don’t care. Layer 4 simply uses whatever works.

The Civilizational Substrate

Biological and industrial foundations

A. The Biological Standard («The Maternal Sphere»)

Hard Constraint: Humans cannot reproduce safely in low-g environments. This is non-negotiable biology.

The Mandate

Gestation and Early Childhood (<5 years) must occur at 1.0g

The Solution

  • Mars: Buried centrifuges («Carousel Tunnels»)
  • The Belt: The habitat itself is a rotating sphere
The Unknown Middle: Ages 6-18
▶

Bone density, cardiovascular development, vestibular system continue developing through puberty.

Research Questions We Cannot Answer Yet:

  • Is 0.38g sufficient for post-early-childhood development?
  • Do Martian adolescents require continued carousel time through skeletal maturity?
  • What are the long-term health impacts of partial-g childhood?
Architectural Approach: Design for worst case (carousels available through age 18) while hoping for best case (0.38g sufficient after age 5). The infrastructure provides optionality. These aren’t gaps in the architecture — they’re research questions the architecture enables us to answer through actual testing.

Note: This makes «gravity» a medical utility like oxygen, not a luxury amenity.

B. The Standardized Belter Habitat (SBH)

The Method: «Grind & Print»

  1. Eater Unit consumes asteroid material
  2. Printer Unit builds Standard Class-M Hull (Cylinder)
  3. Slag packed outside for radiation shielding

The Result

Modular, scalable civilization «franchise» — anywhere there’s an asteroid, you can build a habitat using entirely local resources. No need to ship construction materials from inner system.

Synergy: Same WAAM technology used for Layer 3 taxis scales up for habitat construction. Manufacturing capability serves multiple functions across the architecture.

Architecture Status & Technology Readiness

Version 6.0 Status: ARCHITECTURE LOCKED
Physics validated, logistics consistent, ready for public domain documentation

Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)

Layer TRL Status
Phase 0 (Bootstrap) TRL 7-9 Existing technology (Starship, ISS operations)
Layer 0.5 (Power) TRL 5-6 (solar), TRL 3-4 (laser propulsion) Solar proven; laser needs scaling
Layer 1 (Railguns) TRL 3-4 Individual components TRL 5-6; integration needed
Layer 2 (Cyclers) TRL 4-5 Mechanics validated; large-scale integration needed
Layer 3 (Taxis) TRL 6-7 (WAAM), TRL 9 (chemical) Manufacturing proven; propulsion mature
Layer 4 (Strategic) TRL 4-6 (varies by tech) NERVA TRL 4-5; electric TRL 9

Key Technical Challenges

  • HTS persistent current coils: Scaling to pod-size magnets
  • Regenerative catch: Managing 4-12 GW power spikes
  • Laser beam control: Precision targeting over millions of km
  • WAAM in space: Manufacturing quality control in vacuum
  • Biological constraints: Long-term partial-g health effects unknown

What This Is NOT

  • ❌ A business plan or funding proposal
  • ❌ A detailed engineering specification
  • ❌ A timeline for implementation
  • ❌ A prediction of what will happen

What This IS

  • ✅ A coherent logical framework
  • ✅ A separation of contradictory requirements
  • ✅ A system that works with physics as it exists
  • ✅ Public domain intellectual contribution
  • ✅ A test apparatus for civilization-scale questions
Intended Use: Open-source framework for community refinement and advancement. Not for commercialization. Published for those building toward cislunar infrastructure to have a coherent starting point.

The «Gorilla» Logistics Architecture v6.0

«Through will → formation → contemplation → balance → Force → music → eternity → will»

This framework is released into the public domain for the advancement of human civilization beyond Earth.
No rights reserved. Build upon it freely.

Generated November 27, 2025 | Until we get Epstein drives and start fighting over protomolecule samples 🦍

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