# Delos Aerospace
Expeditionary Stratospheric Architecture & High Altitude Platform Systems

Strategic Business Plan & Technology White Paper

Prepared for the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC)

Founder & CEO: Eugene C. Seybold, E-9 Master Chief (Ret.)

Location: Clayton, North Carolina

Status: Pre-incorporation; SDVOSB (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business) Eligible

## 1. Executive Summary

Delos Aerospace is an integration IP firm developing a sovereign, maritime-based Expeditionary Stratospheric Architecture. Designed to meet the U.S. Space Force’s Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mandate, Delos utilizes unmanned High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) airships to elevate Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) launch vehicles to the stratosphere (80,000 feet) prior to ignition.

By achieving a near-vacuum launch environment, Delos eliminates aerodynamic drag, yielding a 15% to 30% payload multiplier while bypassing localized weather delays and removing military reliance on highly targetable ground infrastructure.

Beyond kinetic launch, Delos's proprietary integration hardware transforms the platform into a persistent High Altitude Platform System (HAPS), serving as a Universal Bus for defense Electronic Warfare (EW), Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), and commercial disaster relief. Delos will execute a non-dilutive capitalization strategy through state-level seed funding and SpaceWERX SBIR contracts, driving toward an 80/20 strategic buyout by a legacy Prime Contractor by Year 5.

## 2. Market Vulnerability

### 2.1 The Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) Mandate

The Department of Defense requires the capability to launch payloads into specific orbital planes within 24 hours of notice to replace downed satellites or augment theater operations during a peer-state conflict.

### 2.2 The Bottleneck of Fixed Infrastructure

Current solutions rely on fixed launch pads (Vandenberg SFB, Cape Canaveral). These present severe vulnerabilities:

- **Geostrategic targeting:** Fixed concrete pads are easily targeted by adversary hypersonic weapons and cyber-attacks.
- **Weather delays:** Terrestrial launches are continuously delayed by tropospheric weather, violating the strict 24-hour response mandate.
- **Cadence constraints:** FAA airspace closures and range congestion limit rapid successive launches.

## 3. The Delos Solution & Core Technology

### 3.1 The Sky-Dock Kinematic Interface

The core intellectual property of Delos Aerospace is the Sky-Dock. Standard rigging cannot safely mate a multi-ton, explosive rocket to a delicate airship envelope. The Sky-Dock is a highly engineered, thermally isolated kinematic release bus attached directly to the underside of the HALE platform. It securely holds the COTS rocket, protecting avionics from stratospheric extremes (-80°C), and executes a flawless horizontal or vertical release upon command.

### 3.2 Weaponized "Snapback" (Thermal Evasion Maneuver)

Dropping a 15,000+ lb payload from a buoyant vessel traditionally results in a catastrophic upward acceleration (“snapback”). Delos uniquely utilizes this physics reality as an evasive maneuver.

- Upon release from the Sky-Dock, the rapid buoyancy ascent creates massive vertical and thermal clearance between the HALE envelope and the payload.
- The COTS rocket, now in freefall in a near-vacuum, uses a proprietary cold-gas stabilization system to pitch into the optimal trajectory.
- Main engine ignition occurs seconds later, safely isolated from the ascending platform.

### 3.3 The Expeditionary "Ghost Fleet" Architecture

To remove fixed-infrastructure vulnerabilities and domestic FAA population constraints, Delos utilizes a maritime deployment strategy.

- **Clamshell drydock inflation:** Dynamic Positioning (DP) tugs orient a launch barge directly into the wind. The envelope is inflated entirely within a retractable, rigid Clamshell Integration Bay on the deck.
- **Sovereign mobility:** The floating spaceport can be towed to evade hurricanes or positioned at optimal equatorial latitudes for maximum rotational velocity assist and precise orbital plane injections.

## 4. Universal Bus & SWaP-C Reallocation

When the kinetic rocket is removed, the Sky-Dock retains a massive structural weight capacity surplus. Delos reallocates this Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP-C) surplus to host a Regenerative Fuel Cell System (RFCS). Utilizing solar photovoltaics during the day and hydrogen fuel cells at night, the platform generates 20kW+ of continuous power, overcoming battery weight limits to host persistent payloads.

- **Airborne eLORAN (Un-jammable PNT):** Broadcasting navigation signals from 80,000 feet, Delos neutralizes terrestrial GPS jamming via the inverse-square law, providing instantaneous Assured PNT over contested theaters.
- **Deep sensing & JADC2:** Hosting Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars for over-the-horizon tracking, or serving as a stratospheric arsenal for lightweight kinetic munitions.
- **Zero-notice disaster relief:** Pre-positioned behind catastrophic weather events, Delos platforms deploy 5G/LTE mesh networks from the stratosphere to restore communications for FEMA and first responders.

## 5. Capitalization & Commercialization Strategy

### 5.1 The "Buy vs. Build" Teaming Model

Delos mitigates the hardware Valley of Death by functioning strictly as an integration IP provider. Delos will execute MOUs with established COTS rocket providers (Firefly, ABL, Rocket Lab) and envelope manufacturers. Partners provide test hardware at cost, subsidized by the massive new TacRS market Delos unlocks for their existing product lines.

### 5.2 Non-Dilutive Funding Pathway

- **State-level seed:** Use NC IDEA MICRO and SEED grants to formalize Sky-Dock IP, CAD modeling, and kinematic mathematics.
- **Federal SBIR/STTR:** Aggressively pursue SpaceWERX and AFWERX TacRS challenges.
- **Phase III sole-source:** Leverage the statutory SBIR Phase III non-compete mechanism to transition prototypes into massive, uncapped sole-source production contracts.

## 6. Intellectual Property & Data Rights

- **"System and Method" patents:** Secure utility patents covering the full architectural sequence, including clamshell inflation, thermally isolated kinematic release, and the thermal-clearance snapback maneuver.
- **DFARS compliance:** Use rigorous accounting to guarantee foundational architecture is developed exclusively at private/state expense, enabling assertion of Limited Rights (Technical Data) under DFARS 252.227-7013.
- **SBIR Data Rights:** Subsequent hardware iterations funded by the DoD fall under statutory SBIR Data Rights, granting 20-year protection against the government sharing technical data with competitors.

## 7. Executive Leadership

Eugene C. Seybold serves as Founder & CEO. As a retired E-9 Master Chief with 26 years of military command, intelligence, and complex maritime logistics experience (Project Railhead, 5th Fleet operations), he provides the operational fluency required to navigate Space Force acquisitions and extreme logistical deployments. Delos's SDVOSB status guarantees eligibility for specific set-aside contracts and sole-source federal commercialization pathways.

## 8. Strategic Exit

### 8.1 Year 5 Valuation Benchmarks

By Year 5, Delos is projected to transition into a high-cadence service provider across three revenue pillars:

- **TacRS Launch:** 12 to 18 launches annually at high margins ($96M–$144M ARR).
- **HAPS-as-a-Service:** Leasing persistent multi-domain platforms (eLORAN/ISR) to the DoD ($150M+ ARR).
- **Dual-use commercial:** Standby disaster relief and university research flights ($30M–$50M ARR).

At a projected baseline revenue of $300M, using a standard 10x Space-Tech multiple, Delos achieves a baseline valuation of $3.0 billion, with aggressive scaling pushing valuation toward $5.4 billion.

### 8.2 The Generational Wealth Exit (80/20 Rollover)

The ultimate strategic objective is a private acquisition by a legacy Prime Contractor (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman) seeking a patented monopoly on the stratospheric responsive space sector. Delos will execute an "80/20 Rollover" exit—liquidating 80% of the firm for a generational cash payout while retaining 20% equity to secure a board seat, guide ongoing TacRS integration, and capture future earn-out milestones as the Prime scales the architecture globally.