Aurora × BioGrow Obloe: Funding Gates, Production Team and Full Development Trajectory
A staged program, not a leap from concept to Moon
Aurora and BioGrow Obloe are being organized around gated development. Financial scale increases only when the project has produced evidence, test data, documentation, and an engineering reason to advance.
Illustrative funding trajectory
Gate 0 — architecture, documentation, CAD, simulation, public education: approximately $10K–$50K.
Gate 1 — Revision 1 subscale physical prototype and repeatable test fixtures: approximately $50K–$250K.
Gate 2 — full-scale two-person habitat mockup and human-factors development: approximately $250K–$1.5M.
Gate 3 — Earth austere analog, long-duration systems trials, BioGrow closed-loop experiments: approximately $750K–$3M.
Gate 4 — engineering development unit with representative structures, avionics, thermal, power, autonomy, and environmental systems: approximately $5M–$20M+.
Gate 5 — orbital or hosted flight demonstration: approximately $25M–$100M+.
Gate 6 — robotic lunar demonstrator: approximately $100M–$500M+.
Gate 7 — human-rated lunar habitat program: approximately $500M–$2B+.
These are internal planning bands only. They are not secured funding, investor forecasts, launch-provider quotes, NASA estimates, or guarantees.
Team growth by stage
Core concept / prototype team — roughly 3–7 people: program lead, systems engineer, mechanical/CAD engineer, electrical/embedded engineer, fabricator, test/documentation lead, communications/education support.
Human-factors habitat stage — roughly 8–18 people: add ECLSS, human factors, structures/composites, thermal, power, software, safety, agriculture/controlled-environment biology, and procurement/logistics expertise.
Earth analog stage — roughly 15–35 people: add test operations, reliability, data systems, field safety, environmental monitoring, medical/human-performance oversight, maintainers, and research partners.
Flight-development stage — roughly 30–80+ people: add GN&C, avionics, flight software, RF/communications, mission operations, quality/mission assurance, verification and validation, radiation, propulsion integration, launch integration, and configuration management.
Human-rated lunar program — 100+ across multiple organizations: add crew systems, EVA, life sciences, certification, regulatory/contracts, supply chain, manufacturing engineering, independent safety, flight operations, and institutional partners.
Production workstreams
Systems engineering and requirements.
Structures, composites, pressure vessel, seals and mechanisms.
Power generation, storage and distribution.
Thermal control and environmental control/life support.
Avionics, software, autonomy, communications and navigation.
Robotics, mobility and resource handling.
BioGrow agriculture, water, nutrient and controlled-environment research.
Human factors, habitability and crew operations.
Manufacturing, tooling, quality and configuration control.
Test, verification, safety, reliability and mission assurance.
Education, public documentation, partnerships, grants and program administration.
Milestone logic
Define measurable requirements.
Build the least-expensive article that can test them.
Instrument the test and preserve the data.
Publish what worked, what failed, and what changed.
Redesign only where evidence requires it.
Advance to a more representative environment.
Seek larger funding only after the previous risk has been retired or bounded.
Concept video series
Episode 1 — The Hypothesis: original Aurora, Rev 1 CAD, why modular testing comes first.
Episode 2 — Living Small: two-person habitat layout, one-year logistics, maintenance and human factors.
Episode 3 — Grow the Loop: BioGrow water, crops, robotics and resource flows.
Episode 4 — Earth Before Moon: austere analog testing, failures, repairs and data collection.
Episode 5 — Separation: mothership carriage, controlled lunar-orbit release and uncrewed descent concept.
Episode 6 — First Surface Year: habitat expansion, resource trials, crew routine, science and lessons learned.
The goal is not to make the concept look finished. The goal is to make every revision more testable, more measurable, and more credible than the last.
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