REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

22 March 2059

"Atlas" Space Settlement Contract

INTRODUCTION

Describe the design, development, construction, and operations planning for the first large
space settlement in solar orbit, for the purpose of moving small (no larger than 10 miles / 16.1 km.
diameter) Earth-crossing asteroids to orbits in cis-lunar space.

STATEMENT OF WORK

1. Basic Requirements - Prepare a design for the Atlas space settlement to capture and re-
locate asteroids in Earth-crossing solar orbits.

2. Structural Design - Atlas must provide a safe and pleasant living and working environment
for a population of 9,000 full-time residents, plus an additional transient population, not to exceed
350 at any time, of business and official visitors, guests of residents, and people doing research on
the captured asteroid and products that can be made from its materials. The design must enable
residents to have windows for natural views of Earth and the captured asteroid.
2.1 Exterior design drawings must identify all large enclosed volumes and their uses, and show
dimensions of major structural components. Specify construction materials used for major
structural components. Show volumes where artificial gravity up to 0.75g will be supplied at
ground level, and the means for supplying and maintaining it. Docking facilities for visiting ships
must be provided in a micro-gravity environment. Specify means for providing protection from
radiation and debris penetration. CASSSCs may be repurposed as building components. Identify
which volumes are pressurized, in vacuum, or other environments.
Minimum requirement: overall exterior view of settlement, showing rotating and non-rotating
sections, and indicating functions inside each volume.
2.2 On interior design drawings, specify uses and dimensions of pressurized and unpressurized
enclosed areas, with drawings clearly labeled to show residential, industrial, commercial, agricultural,
port facilities, research labs, and other uses. Show the total area of "down surfaces" inside the
artificial gravity volumes, and include maps to show how all such surface areas are used.
Minimum requirement: overall map or layout of interior land areas, showing usage of those areas.
2.3 Describe processes required to construct the settlement, by showing the sequence and
schedule in which major structural components will be assembled. Show jigs to keep construction
components aligned for joining during assembly, and describe how jigs are assembled.
Minimum requirement: drawings showing at least six intermediate steps of settlement assembly.
2.4 Describe interfaces and capture/retention system(s) for attaching the settlement to an asteroid
no less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter and no more than 10 miles (16.1 km) in diameter. The
contractor may specify optimum asteroid size within this range, with variability no less than + / -
one mile. Throughout its lifetime, Atlas’ target asteroids may be of various types, including nearly-
solid metallic bodies and loosely conglomerated rubble-piles; show at least two capture system
types. Show how some asteroid materials will be moved to interior lab areas for research.
Minimum requirement: drawings of attachment systems, including direction of acceleration and
access for harvesting materials en route to final destination.

3. Operations and Infrastructure - Describe facilities and infrastructure necessary for

operating the Atlas settlement.
3.1 Specify an orbital location where Atlas will be constructed. Identify sources of materials and
equipment that will be used in construction and operations, using minimally refined extraterrestrial
materials as much as possible. Transportation costs are reduced by shipping in CASSSCs.

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Minimum requirement: chart or table identifying types and amounts of materials and equipment
required for the settlement construction process, and from where and how those materials and
equipment are shipped.
3.2 The Atlas design will show elements of basic infrastructure required for the activities of the
settlement's residents, including (but not limited to):
• atmosphere (define air composition at 11 psi, and quantity),
• food production and processing (describe dedicated agriculture and “edible landscaping”),
• electrical power generation (specify kilowatts distributed to habitable areas),
• water management (including fresh water distribution and sewage),
• household and industrial solid waste management (trash and garbage),
• internal and external communication systems (specify devices and central equipment), and
• internal transportation systems (show routes and vehicles, with dimensions).
Define initial quantities of air water, food, and other consumables as the number of CASSSC-loads
required for each commodity. Air, water, other commodities, and standard infrastructure
components are preferred to be supplied by subcontractors.
Minimum requirement: drawing(s) showing locations of systems which provide required infra-
structure, and, as appropriate, their configurations (e.g., show routings of water and waste services).
3.3 Show designs of primary machines, jigs, and equipment employed for constructing the
settlement, especially for assembling exterior hull and interior buildings / structures using standard
components. Jigs must keep components aligned and precisely in proper position until they are
joined, enable access for tools to complete joints, and enable access for subsequent inspection.
Show how construction machinery, jigs, and tools are shipped to the construction site.
Minimum requirement: drawing(s) of construction jigs, and how they are assembled on-site.
3.4 Another supplier will customize Atlas propulsion system(s) to parameters defined in the
proposal. Specify pounds of thrust required for continuous acceleration of 0.1 g, for Atlas alone
and when it is moving various sizes of asteroids. Define flat plate interface surface(s)
configuration(s) where thrust is to be applied, including location(s), area, and thickness. Each
propulsion unit will be self-contained (including tanks and collection of asteroid dust for fuel), and
must be clear to fire in any direction except through the interface.
Minimum requirement: drawing(s) showing flat plate propulsion interface(s) size(s) and shape(s).

4. Human Factors and Safety - Quality of life is important to Foundation Society members,
who plan to maintain traditional comforts of Earth without the sacrifices normally associated with a
frontier environment. Residents expect traditional community attributes that citizens of Earth's
towns of similar size might enjoy. Assure that natural sunlight and views of the captured asteroid
and Earth are readily available to residents.
4.1 Atlas communities will provide facilities for services that residents could expect in a
comfortable modern community environment (e.g., housing, education, dining, entertainment,
medical, parks and recreation, etc.), variety and quantity of consumables and other supplies, and
public areas designed with open space, long lines of sight, and appeal for long-term human
residency, yet reflecting Atlas’ unique location. The proposal must depict or specify means of
distributing consumables to Atlas residents (e.g., shops, deliveries, points-of-distribution).
Minimum requirement: map(s) and/or illustration(s) depicting community design and locations of
amenities, with a distance scale and/or dimensions of major features.
4.2 Include designs of typical residential homes, clearly showing room sizes. Homes can be
duplexes, townhouses, and/or upstairs floors of buildings with businesses at ground level. Show
accommodations for transient population. Anticipated demographics of the original population are:
Married adults 55% (average age 38, median age 35)
Single Men 26% (average age 33, median age 36)
Single Women 17% (average age 36, median age 32)
Children 2% (average age 6, median age 5)
Minimum requirement: external drawing and interior floor plan of at least four home designs, the
area (preferably in square feet) for each residence design, and the number required of each design.
4.3 Describe facilities, spacesuits, and other attributes provided for personnel on-site during
construction. Specify spacesuit features, types, quantities, and donning / doffing locations(s)
required for work and recreation outside of pressurized volumes; and safety systems for human
inspection and repair of exterior surfaces of rotating volumes. Provide protection from radiation

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and severe solar flares. Define how residents and visitors are informed of emergency situations.
Minimum requirement: show location(s) on community map for spacesuit donning / doffing.
4.4 Show location(s) and configuration(s) of research laboratory(ies) and the materials
processing equipment available to Atlas’ research engineers and scientists. Enable studies of new
materials properties, processing techniques, and production prototypes.
Minimum requirement: describe equipment available to researchers to enable investigating a wide
variety of materials, manipulation conditions, and processes.

5. Automation Design and Services - For each subparagraph, specify numbers, dimensions,
and types of computer systems, robots, and other computing and information processing devices,
multi-function personal electronic tools, servers, network devices, and/or drones required to operate
the settlement, run its community and businesses, and provide convenience, entertainment, and
safety for residents and visitors. Describe types and capacities of data storage media, data collection,
data distribution, data security, and user access to computing networks. Specify capabilities and
control systems for robots, drones, and automated systems. Identify processes requiring
monitoring; provide control rooms and show displays for systems that require human oversight; list
alerts to get human attention for problem resolution, and specify reason(s) for each type of of alert.
5.1 Describe uses of automation during construction of settlement structures. Specify
applications appropriate for fixed-base, articulating, mobile, and/or other robot types.
Minimum requirement: chart or table describing automated construction and assembly devices.
5.2 Specify automation systems for settlement maintenance, repair, and safety functions; show
how automation works together with humans to perform these tasks. Describe when and how
human intervention in automated functions is required. Define physical locations of computers and
robots for critical functions. Describe means for personnel to access critical data and command
computer and robot systems, with security measures to assure access only for authorized purposes.
Minimum requirement: chart, table, or list(s) of settlement systems and parameters that must be
monitored and controlled for safe operations of Atlas, including during construction.
5.3 Show automation devices to enhance livability in the community, productivity in workplaces,
and convenience in residences. Emphasize automation to perform maintenance and routine tasks,
and reduce needs for manual labor. Describe secure access to community computing assets and
robot resources from individuals' homes and workplaces, including measures to assure no
unauthorized operation of robots. Describe devices for personal delivery of information,
communications services, entertainment, computing, and robot resources. Robots that interact with
residents will be between two and four feet tall (61 to 122 cm), and not anthropomorphic.
Minimum requirement: dimensioned drawings of robots and computing systems that people will
encounter in Atlas, and diagram(s) of network(s) to enable connectivity.
5.4 Provide automation for the process of capturing an asteroid and securing it for acceleration to
its destination in cis-lunar space.
Minimum requirement: drawing(s) of automation systems for deploying and/or activating asteroid
capture and retention system(s).

6. Schedule and Cost - The proposal will include a schedule for development and occupation
of Atlas, and costs for design through construction phases of the schedule.
6.1 The schedule must describe contractor tasks from the time of contract award (1 May 2059)
until the customer assumes responsibility for operations of the completed settlement. Show
schedule dates when Foundation Society members may begin moving into their new homes, and
when the entire original population will be established in the community.
Minimum requirement: durations and completion dates of major design, construction, and
occupation tasks, depicted in a Gantt chart with monthly or smaller increments.
6.2 Specify the costs associated with Atlas design through construction in U.S. dollars, without
consideration for economic inflation. Justify contract costs to design and build the settlement, with
estimates of numbers of employees associated with each phase of design and construction. Do not
include costs of consumables shipped and delivered in CASSSCs; do specify number of CASSSC-
loads of each commodity required to be shipped to the construction site.
Minimum requirement: spreadsheet(s) listing separate costs associated with different phases of
construction, and clearly showing total costs that will be billed to the Foundation Society.

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7. Business Development - Atlas’ commercial and industrial ventures will focus on one
business pursuit: moving Earth-crossing asteroids from solar orbit to an orbit in cis-lunar space,
for the purpose of providing materials for orbital manufacturing operations. Elements necessary to
accomplish this purpose include the following:
• Asteroid capture and retention system(s)
- Define interface(s) for attaching to an asteroid and applying force to change its orbit.
- Define configuration(s) and deployment system(s) for asteroid capture and retention.
- Implement measures to prevent loose asteroid surface material from shedding off the
asteroid when it is accelerated at 0.1 g
- Provide system(s) to mitigate asteroid dust migration into and inside the settlement
- Specify number and location(s) of propulsion interface(s) and thrust applied
• Asteroid resource harvesting and shipping
- Describe system(s) for harvesting asteroid materials for research en route to final
destination
- Provide system(s) for loading asteroid ore in CASSSCs
- Provide transportation route(s) and vehicle(s) for moving ore-filled CASSSCs from
the captured asteroid to the spaceport dock
- Show configuration of the spaceport dock; only one ship at a time will visit Atlas
- Show how crews enter and exit ships in the spaceport dock
• Research laboratories
- Provide transportation of asteroid materials to research facility(ies)
- Provide research labs for ore-processing capability in various g levels between 0 g and
0.5 g, and in various atmosphere pressures, compositions, and temperatures, from cold
vacuum to small volumes with high pressures and temperatures
- A separate contractor will provide a variety of equipment (e.g., kilns, chemical
catalysts, extruding and rolling, introduction of impurities) to process asteroid
materials in a search for new properties and applications, and to test asteroid materials
properties (e.g., strength, stiffness, flexibility, optical and thermal properties,
durability).

EVALUATION STANDARDS

Evaluation of each design presentation considers four general categories of factors:

A. Thoroughness - Design meets depth and diversity of requirements in the entire SOW.
Graphs, tables, drawings, and compliance matrices aid evaluation of this factor.
B. Credibility - Design addresses requirements, safety, physical laws, and cost/schedule in a
believable manner. Errors, impossibilities, omissions, and illogic are penalized.
C. Balance - Proposal places equal emphasis on four technical areas: structural design,
operations, livability, and automation. Proposal is organized in a logical, easy-to-follow manner.
D. Innovation - Design demonstrates original thinking to address SOW requirements.
Technologies are applied and combined in unique and creative ways.

ADDENDA

Proposals may suggest alternate names for this community, within the Foundation Society's
established naming convention that requires the name to end with the suffix "as" (settlement is in
orbit “around Sol”) and begin with the letter "A" (first settlement at an "as" location).
The proposal may suggest an alternate population for the settlement, if warranted to assure
fulfillment of Atlas objectives and maintenance requirements.
Drawings and/or maps included in the proposal must show dimensions consistently in
English (feet/miles) or metric (meters/kilometers) notation, except when specified by the SOW.
Note source of every drawing, image, graph, or matrix, directly below the item; e.g., name of
artist(s) or CAD operator(s) in your company, book, Internet site, article, floor plan by [artist name]
using Roomsketcher, or work from a previous proposal. Unattributed images will not be judged.
If AI-generated, identify software and prompts used to create content.

© Aerospace Education Competitions 2024