An atmospheric scoop, or skimmer, is an orbital collector that harvests gas from the upper reaches of a planetary atmosphere. Scoops operating above Earth were for decades the principal source of the nitrogen used to pressurize gyrealms, and the fleet’s scuttling after the Coriopolis Bombing Crisis marked the end of that era.

Operation#

A scoop sweeps gas at orbital velocity and must therefore be thrust continuously against the drag its own intake produces. The capture is inelastic: only about half the work done goes into the collected gas’s orbital kinetic energy, the remainder appearing as heat that must be radiated away. The energetic cost works out to roughly 61 MJ·kg⁻¹ — worse per tonne than an ideal lift, and better in capital, which is why the route was taken. The physics is treated in full under nitrogen supply.

Thermospheric units operate lower still, tethered to a station above and hanging into denser gas where collection is faster. The characteristic faint glow around a thermospheric scoop is its intake plasma.

Reentry design#

Because scoops operate at altitudes where orbits decay quickly, they are designed to fail safe. A scoop that loses station-keeping or is severed from its tether breaks up under aerodynamic loading into fragments small enough to ablate completely before reaching the surface. The design was validated unintentionally during the atmospheric scoop attacks, in which a scoop cut loose from its tether burned up entirely with no debris recovered.

Licensing#

Scoop operation over Earth is licensed by the Natural Resource Trust under the authority granted by the 2065 amendment to the Outer Space Treaty. The licensing of atmospheric extraction — treating a planet’s air as a saleable resource lot — is the single most contested element of the Trust’s remit, and scoops are accordingly the most frequently attacked infrastructure in the Solar System.