A relatively brief update this yearBy the end of 2153, all the Solarian powers had launched gravitational survey ships, surveyed the Sol system and explored all five jump points. The Colonial Coalition, which had a single 100-ton Aethra class gravitational survey craft in service at the start of the year, launched the 6000-ton Artemis class survey ships Artemis, Fortuna and Vala, plus two further Aethras. None of the Colonial survey craft were jump capable, so Coalition factories on Ceres constructed the third and fourth Thule class space stations, which could be towed to jump points to provide that jump capability for military-engine ships up to 6000 tons in size. To aid exploration, and eventually colonization, the Coalition developed jump stabilisation technology and incorporated this into the Achaemenides class Jump Stabilisation Station. Two Achaemenides were constructed and towed to the Luhman and Luyten jump points respectively to begin work.
Achaemenides class Jump Stabilisation Station 50,700 tons 116 Crew 1,093.1 BP TCS 1,014
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 13 Sensors 5/6/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 1000 MSP
Shao Xiao Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Jump Point Stabilisation: 180 days
Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1440 Range 23.6m km Resolution 120
T-5 Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
E-6 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
The Jovian Federation did not complete any new survey ships in 2153, relying instead on the two 4200-ton Alexei Leonov class gravitational survey vessels and the six 500-ton Newton class survey craft. Four existing Gateway class space stations provided jump capability. With all five systems adjacent to Sol discovered during the previous year and three unexplored jump points in Luhman, the Federation was faced with the problem that the Gateways could not be moved through jump points into those systems to allow further exploration. That was solved by the construction of the first two Portal class stations. The Portal was the big brother to the small Gateway stations and allowed commercial-engined ships of up to 156,000 tons to transit. This capability meant the two Apache class tugs could tow the Gateways through a jump point where a Portal was stationed.
Portal class Jump Tender Station 42,300 tons 182 Crew 828.1 BP TCS 846 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s JR 2-25(C) No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 26 Sensors 6/6/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
MSP 12 Max Repair 711.7 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Maximov-Voronov MV-156C Jump Drive Max Ship Size 155500 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
SPN-8 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1600 Range 25.7m km Resolution 100
SAR-10 Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
SQR-9 Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
The tug Apache towed a gateway station through the Sol-Luhman jump point and, over a period of several months, positioned it at each of the three new jump points to permit survey ships to enter and return. The jump points led to Barnard’s Star, a planetless red dwarf, WISE 0855?0714, a planetless brown dwarf, and Epsilon Eridani, a K-class star with two planets. The inner planet was a gas giant with one point seven million tons of accessibility 1.0 Sorium, while the outer was a dwarf planet lacking water, atmosphere and mineral deposits. Apart from the potentially useful gas giant, the systems beyond Luhman were disappointing for the Jovian explorers. Nevertheless, Newton class ships began gravitational surveys in both Bernard’s Star and WISE 0855?0714, locating a single new jump point in the latter system before the end of the year.
In addition to the ongoing exploration beyond Luhman, the Federation completed gravitational surveys of Luyten 726-8, Sirius and 61 Cygni, finding two new jump points in Sirius and one each in the other systems. Of the systems adjacent to Sol, only Wolf 359 had yet to be surveyed.
The Martian Republic had opted to wait for jump-capable gravitational survey vessels before beginning its own explorations. Those first survey ships, the 9000-ton Belisarius and Justinian, were launched on April 20th. Within six months, they had completed a survey of Sol and probed all five jump points. Geological surveys were carried out in Luyten, Luhman and Sirius. Belisarius and Justinian moved into Luhman and by the end of the year had explored the jump points to Barnard’s Star and WISE 0855?0714.
The Martian Republic launched the first pair of 94,000-ton Cygnus class jump freighters at the end of July 2153. The jump freighters moved into position at the Luyten and Sirius jump points, allowing Mars to send colony expeditions into both systems. On September 8th, Mars established the first extra-solar colony by landing 720,000 colonists and most of Legio V ‘Elysium’ on Sirius II, a world that would be habitable were it not for excess oxygen in the atmosphere. Beyond the potential for being an ideal habitable world, Sirius II was valuable due to its sixty million tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium, plus four other multi-million-ton deposits, albeit at low accessibility. The second Martian colony was created on Luyten-B I, a colony cost 2.00 dwarf planet with extensive mineral deposits. With no atmosphere or water the small world would require extensive terraforming to be habitable and had a maximum population capacity of less than two hundred million. In two separate expeditions, the Republic landed a total of one point four million settlers, sufficient infrastructure to support them, twelve mining complexes and half of Legio VI ‘Hellas’. Martian Legions had both numeric and description designations.
Luyten 726-8-B I Survey ReportDuranium: 6,223,386 0.90
Tritanium: 54,755 0.20
Boronide: 93,632 0.60
Mercassium: 2,396,300 0.50
Vendarite: 2,924,094 0.90
Sorium: 2,862,858 0.90
On May 12th 2153, the People’s Republic of Terra launched its first two gravitational survey ships, the 6000-ton, jump capable Antarès and Altaïr. While the survey of Sol wasn’t complete by the end of the year, all five jump points had been identified and probed and geological surveys of the adjacent systems were close to completion. A large Terran commercial drive was under development, with research expected to be complete by March 2154. Tractor beam technology was also under development, giving the People’s Republic the eventual option to deploy large, commercial space stations at jump points in the same way as the Jovian Federation.
The Shogunate of Titan began the year with six 500-ton Zuiun class Survey Craft, which completed the survey of Sol by the end of January 2153. The first jump-capable Shogunate vessels were three Kamikawa Maru class Jump Tenders, with 49,000-ton capacity commercial jump drives, launched on November 3rd, following three weeks later by the first pair of 6450-ton Shimakaze class Gravitational Survey Vessels. Between the Kamikawa Marus and the Shimakazes, all five jump points were probed by the end of the year. Geological surveys were underway in Luyten, Luhman, Sirius and 61 Cygni and a gravitational survey was underway in Luyten.
While the Kamikawa Marus provided a jump-capability for ships of up to 49,000 tons, which included Shogunate freighters, colony ships and troop transports, a larger drive was required for fuel harvesters, terraforming stations and potential future mining ships. Two Kaidai class space stations were constructed in November and December, which would fulfil a similar function to the Jovian Portal class stations. However, they would remain in orbit of Titan until the Shogunate completed its first Tategami class Tug, designed using recently-developed tractor beam technology and scheduled for delivery in October 2154.
Kaidai class Jump Tender Station 34,650 tons 150 Crew 586.8 BP TCS 693 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s JR 2-25(C) No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 21 Sensors 5/6/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
MSP 10 Max Repair 497.1 MSP
Kaigun-Ch?sa Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Mitsubishi-Matsuda MM-128C Jump Drive Max Ship Size 127500 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
TH-5 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
EM-6 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
The main concern for the Shogunate as 2153 drew to a close was a severe shortage of Duranium, with the stockpile on Titan falling below 200 tons. As the Shogunate wealth situation was reasonably healthy, the Shogun gave orders to purchase minerals from four of the seven Shogunate civilian mining colonies. Even so, the shortage would place severe constraints on economic expansion.
Nineteen civilian mining colonies had been created in Sol by 2153, with seven each for the Shogunate and the People’s Republic of Terra, three for the Jovian Federation and two for the Martian Republic. The Coalition had none. The dwarf planet Haumea was the most popular civilian mining site, with a total of eighteen complexes from four different powers. In terms of civilian shipping, Terra had a slight lead over the Jovian Federation, with 359,000 tons vs 338,000 tons. The Martian Republic had 293,000 tons of civilian shipping, followed by the Colonial Coalition on 181,000 tons and the Shogunate with just three ships totalling 78,000 tons.
New construction in 2153 was focused on commercial expansion and surveying, with few warships delivered. The Colonial Coalition built a Concordia class defence monitor, five Kythera class freighters, two Odysseus class colony ships, three Artemis class survey ships, two Aethra class survey craft, two Alexandra class fuel harvester stations, two Thule class stations and two Achaemenides class lump stabilisation stations. Construction from the Jovian Federation included a Burevestnik class orbital defence platform, five freighters, three colony ships, two Iwo Jima class troop transports and two Portal class space stations. The Martian Republic launched a Draco class troop transport, two Delphinus class colony ships, two Cygnus class jump freighters and two Belisarius class survey ships.
The People’s Republic of Terra constructed the République class missile cruisers Redoutable and Terrible, the first two Antarès class gravitational survey ships, seven freighters and four colony ships. Finally, the Shogunate of Titan built the Nagara class escort cruiser ?yodo, the gravitational survey vessels Shimakaze and Akikaze, a Hosho class troop transport, three Kamikawa Maru class jump tenders, three freighters, three colony ships, three Tsugaru class fuel harvesters and two Kaidai class space stations.
The other item of note during the year was the continued success of the Jovian ELINT modules on the Vishnya class intelligence ships. Continued surveillance of Earth, Luna, Mars and Ceres had begun to reveal more detail about the installations on the surface of each world. Jovian Intelligence now knew that Earth had a population of almost one point five billion, a total of three thousand three hundred and forty installations, of which one thousand three hundred and twenty were factories and one thousand and thirty were mines. A spaceport and a cargo shuttle station had both been identified. As surveillance continued, more detail would become available. Similar intelligence information was being gathered on the other targets.
