The value chain

Every record in this base is tagged to at least one of these 17 layers. The Target and Reached columns show how deep each layer should go and how deep the evidence currently goes.

Depth runs L0 to L3. L0 names the layer. L1 names its top three constraints with units. L2 reproduces the governing relationship and its input ranges. L3 adds an independent order-of-magnitude calculation and says where a published figure differs from it and why. The full scale.

1 of 17 layers sit below their declared target. Target is how deep a layer should go. Reached is how deep the evidence goes now.

Layer	Covers	Target	Reached	Records
VC01 Solar collection and conversion	Cells, concentrators, optics, thermal conversion, degradation, sun pointing of the collector	L2	L2	37
VC02 Satellite power management and distribution	DC bus, conversion, cabling, protection, harness mass, on-board storage	L3	L3	16
VC03 Thermal management	Waste heat paths, radiators, radiator area and mass, operating temperature limits	L2	L2	10
VC04 Platform structure, deployment and control	Primary structure, deployables, attitude control, station keeping, orbit maintenance, propellant	L3	L3	73
VC05 Transmitter: DC to beam and aperture	DC to RF or DC to optical conversion, amplifiers, phase control, beam forming, transmit aperture	L3	L3	106
VC06 Beam link and propagation	Link budget, diffraction and beam geometry, atmospheric effects, pointing accuracy and safety, frequency choice and beam power density	L3	L3	344
VC07 Ground receiver and rectification	Rectenna or optical receiver, RF or light to DC conversion, receiver site, land area, civil works, co-use of land	L3	L3	127
VC08 Ground power conversion and grid interface	DC to AC conversion, transformers, protection, harmonics, fault ride-through, grid code compliance, the connection asset	L3	L3	34
VC09 Grid integration and system value	Dispatchability, firmness, capacity value, balancing, curtailment, the comparator basket, offtake and market position	L3	L3	65
VC10 Launch and orbital transport	Launch price per kg, cadence, fairing and mass constraints, orbit choice and transfer, launch availability	L3	L3	86
VC11 In-space assembly and servicing	Autonomous and robotic assembly, docking, alignment of large apertures, in-space manufacture, on-orbit repair and replacement	L3	L3	49
VC12 Operations, availability and end of life	Ground segment operations, availability and outage, degradation over life, disposal, deorbit, debris generation by the system itself	L2	L2	18
XC01 Regulation, spectrum and law	Spectrum allocation and coordination, exposure limits, aviation, licensing, planning, liability, treaty and property questions	L3	L3	180
XC02 Economics and finance	LCOE, capex, opex, learning rates, discount rates, financing, insurance, subsidy, first-unit funding	L3	L3	291
XC03 Environment and lifecycle impact	Lifecycle greenhouse gas, launch emissions, land and ecological effects, atmospheric effects, the shared debris environment	L3	L2	173
XC04 Security, defence and resilience	Dual use, attack surface, jamming and interference, physical vulnerability, energy security, supply chain security	L2	L2	49
XC05 Supply chain, industrial base and skills	Materials and critical inputs, manufacturing capacity and rate, qualification routes, standards, workforce and skills demand	L1	L1	31

The record count is every record tagged to that layer, not the number published. Most records in this base are not published, and why is worth reading before drawing conclusions from these counts.