ARCTUS (the "Advanced Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft") was a proposed design by Astrotech Corporation and developed with its partners Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance, Cimarron and Odyssey Space Research for a robotic spacecraft that would deliver cargo to the International Space Station, NASA COTS program.
Its pressurized cargo module would return to Earth and be recovered with a mid-air retrieval operation.
The majority of the avionics will be housed inside the PCM to allow for recovery and reuse for future missions.
[citation needed] Payload Accommodations The ARCTUS payload accommodations are based on SPACEHAB's 20 years of experience in delivering NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, and commercial cargo to space.
[citation needed] Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) The ECLSS will maintain the pressurized environment (temperature and pressure) within the cargo requirements during all flight phases, as well crew requirements, while docked.