Initial material comes from lunar regolith (polar or mare sites with proven accessibility). Regolith is excavated, crushed, sieved to micron-scale, baked to drive off volatiles, and electrostatically sorted for clean, glassy/silicate grains. Phase-2 adds small-asteroid feedstock once tugs and depots are in routine use.

Target grain sizes ~0.5–10 µm. Options include straight-through sieving, melt-sprayed microspheres for tighter size control, and thin dielectric coatings for charge management. QC sensors measure grain size distribution and optical properties before loading.

Two launch modes: (A) electromagnetic mass-driver “buckets” loft sealed canisters to cislunar capture orbits; (B) small chemical landers lift canisters to a depot (e.g., NRHO). Both minimize gravity-well penalties and enable steady, scalable throughput.

Cargo is captured at a depot and transferred to solar-electric tugs (ion/Hall). Depots provide power, comms, packaging, and traffic coordination. Tug convoys stage loads and depart to L1 on staggered schedules to keep the injectors continuously supplied.

Time depends on propulsion and alignment. Chemical tug: ~3–10 days in favorable geometry (near new-moon), ~1–3 weeks typical. Solar-electric tug: ~4–12 weeks with far higher propellant efficiency. Schedules are planned so inventories at L1 stay >30–60 days of buffer.

At L1, canisters dock to “feed hoppers.” Vacuum augers and metering wheels deliver grains to electrostatic conditioners that set/neutralize charge and de-clump. Inline optical sensors verify mass flow and opacity contribution before grains enter the injector throats.

Each injector is a variable-aperture nozzle/electrostatic lens that launches a gently diverging sheet of grains on pre-computed ballistic paths through the target column. Multiple injectors interleave “fans” to fill the column uniformly without over-densities.

We don’t “trap” dust; we maintain a flow. Weak EM shepherds and small radiation-pressure vanes trim the column’s shape, while a feedback controller adjusts injection rate, trajectory mix, and grain sizes to hit the desired attenuation. The result is a stable, tunable column that resists drifting apart because fresh grains continually replace those exiting.

Trajectories are chosen so grains cross the column then drift away from Earth-orbital traffic lanes. Keep-out zones and automated deconfliction are enforced around spacecraft corridors. If needed, shepherds apply tiny nudges to deflect strays out of sensitive regions.

“Off switch” = stop injection. Without replenishment, solar radiation pressure and gravity disperse the cloud on short-to-moderate timescales (weeks to a few months, grain-size dependent), returning insolation to normal. Emergency fast-drop protocols reduce injector flow within minutes.