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Fleet Render
FIG. 01 — LTF-MK1 Loaded Configuration, Lunar Surface — Water Cartridge Mounted
LTF-RENDER-001
45 autonomous tankers. 3.3 million metric tons. A continuous cycle of ascent, delivery, and return — building humanity's first orbital city one payload at a time.
Surface-to-LLO water delivery to Aegis Station shield reservoirs. Fully autonomous operations across continuous 2,600 m/s ascent-and-return cycles.
Ballistic surface hops between ISRU nodes for LOX and water redistribution. 160–940 m/s per hop — up to 6× sorties per orbital propellant load.
After shield completion, the fleet transitions to permanent orbital logistics: LLO depots, EML1/2 hubs, and propellant staging for deep-space missions.
1–2 tankers maintained in standby at all times. Emergency water delivery to crewed outposts achievable within 6–8 hours of dispatch authorization.
The LTF tanker requires no structural redesign for surface-to-surface operations. Its VTOL architecture and LOX/CH₄ propulsion are inherently suited to ballistic hops between ISRU nodes — ascending on a near-vertical vector, coasting at low altitude, and performing a precision landing at the destination pad.
This capability transforms a collection of isolated extraction points into an integrated logistics network, allowing surplus LOX and water to flow to nodes in deficit rather than being vented or stockpiled past capacity.
High-yield nodes producing excess liquid oxygen redistribute to nodes in deficit. Delivered LOX feeds directly into tanker refueling operations at the destination, creating a shared propellant pool across the network.
ISRU extraction failure at a crewed outpost triggers autonomous dispatch from the nearest surplus node. First delivery achievable within 6–8 hours — no crew or operator action required at the origin site.
New exploration outposts 900+ km from the nearest ISRU hub receive propellant caches via a series of surface hops, establishing operational independence before local production comes online.
3–5 tankers operate in dedicated S2S rotation, executing scheduled monthly rebalancing of LOX and water inventories across all active nodes under autonomous dispatch control from Aegis Station.
The Moon has abundant water ice. Electrolysis splits that water into liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen — the two highest-performing chemical propellants available. The LTF's ISRU nodes are already producing both as a consequence of the shield-fill operation itself. LOX feeds directly into the current propulsion system. Hydrogen has been the missing piece.
The missing piece is now on a credible engineering path. Blue Origin's Lunar Permanence team has demonstrated zero boil-off storage of liquid hydrogen at 20K — the temperature at which LH₂ must be maintained — at twice the performance of the previous state of the art. Active cryocooling powered by the node's solar and fission power supply keeps propellant cold indefinitely, with no boil-off losses.
The program consequence is significant: rather than importing methane from Earth on every resupply cycle — a permanent, compounding dependency running into the tens of billions annually at fleet scale — the LTF transitions to a fully closed propellant loop. Water in, LOX and LH₂ out. No Earth supply chain. No launch-dependent consumables. A logistics system that is genuinely autonomous.
Fleet operates on proven LOX/CH₄ propulsion while LUNET nodes are built to the full 50 kW power specification. Methane import costs are accepted during this period as the cost of mission reliability. Cryogenic and fission infrastructure is commissioned in parallel — not retrofit later.
Node cryocoolers and LH₂ storage come online. Tankers are qualified for liquid hydrogen service. The fleet transitions progressively — early vehicles flying LOX/LH₂ missions as nodes are certified, methane imports tapering as the conversion progresses across all six LUNET sites.
Full fleet operates on locally produced propellants. Zero Earth import dependency. The higher Isp of LOX/LH₂ reduces propellant mass per mission, increasing payload fraction and compressing the remaining fill timeline. Post-fill, the same fleet serves Aegis Station depot and surface logistics roles indefinitely.