Jan 1. work begins on producing a functional jump engine in both the Empire and Federation.
Both design engines for ships intended to escort existing survey vessels, these early iterations of the technology are massively bulky and plans are quickly made to develop more effective ones as soon as possible.
Jan 30. The asteroid mining fleet of the Federation crosses very close to the inner system as it cuts towards new mining grounds, triggering a number of warnings from the Empire navy
March 28. The Empire completes research on its prototype jump drive, ship design begins and a shipyard is prepared to begin construction. The Alpha class jumpship is intended to escort Empire surveyors and is equipped with small passive sensors as well. Retooling is expected to take 4 months.
Alpha class Jump Ship 4,050 tons 390 Crew 479.5 BP TCS 81 TH 266 EM 0
3283 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 6/6/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 0
Maint Life 4.45 Years MSP 296 AFR 32% IFR 0.5% 1YR 24 5YR 362 Max Repair 182 MSP
J4050(3-50)UE prototype Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 4050 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
GE IP NP 7.2(M) (7) Power 38 Fuel Use 72% Signature 38 Armour 0 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 154.3 billion km (543 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
April 15th. Empire survey teams discover Terra is not quite as devoid of minerals as they thought with the discovery of 100000 tons of 0.1 accessibility Uridium, unfortunately this seems to be all the mother planet has left in her.Focus now smegs to Mars
May 1st. The Federation completes research on its own drive, this was slowed by its lack of specialist in the field. Retooling begins for the Explorer, basically a jump engine strapped to more engines.
Explorer class Jump Ship 3,600 tons 346 Crew 400 BP TCS 72 TH 280 EM 0
3888 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-20 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 0
Maint Life 4 Years MSP 208 AFR 34% IFR 0.5% 1YR 21 5YR 312 Max Repair 144 MSP
TAT J3600(3-50) Military Jump Drive V1 Max Ship Size 3600 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
MIlton NPE E9 2080 (7) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 83.3 billion km (248 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
June 7. 100000 tons of good accessibility Gallicite is found on Mars, the team is now moved to El Dorado
July 7. construction on the lead ships of the Explorer class begins on Titan, construction is due to complete in April of 2081
July 25. The Empire begins construction of the Alpha class jump ship, construction should take some 11 month
Oct 5. The Empire completes a new jump drive efficiency research, though implementing it will wait for a new generation of ships.
Nov 16. Additional supplies of Tritanium located on El Dorado, and the team believes there is yet more to find.
Jan 1st 2081. the New Year rings in with no major conflicts, the civilian industries of both powers have kicked into high gear, with both sides launching new freighters and a civilian mining colony set up in the asteroid belt by a private concern in the Empire.
Both factions are running a deficit, and will need to deal with that before long.
