STATE OF SPACE, 2077I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGSIA. Populated ColoniesEarth(1.483b, 500 CF, 50 OF, 75 REF, 40 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 4x Alaska MB)
Mars(54.63m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(49.24m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.32m, 1 DSTS)
Mercury(12.64m)
Venus(11.74m)
Io(110k)
Europa(110k)
Ganymede(110k)
Callisto(110k)
The inner-system colonies continue to grow, while there is virtual stagnation in the outer system. Titan was the only one to grow(by a mere 300k), for a total of just 1.7% growth in the outer system. Meanwhile the population of Mercury nearly doubled, leapfrogging Venus as now the 4th most-populous colony. Nearly 9% of humanity, over 146 million of us, now lives somewhere other than earth. Less than 20 million, or 9% of that 9%, lives in the outer system and nearly all of that small fraction is on Titan. Meanwhile, shipyard operations has surpassed construction factory work with more than 25 million employed as the #2 TN employer behind research at 40 million.
IB. OutpostsSedna(31 CMC, 16 eff, 8.59 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 26.7 eff, 2.65 kt) -- mercassium(9.0)
Earth(50 SM, 6.3 eff, 546 t)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 37 eff, 2.27 kt) -- gallicite(2.2)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.94 kt) -- neutronium(0.5), gallicite(7.6)
Halley's Comet(28 AM, 51 eff, 2.25 kt) -- sorium(2.6), gallicite(6.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 24 eff, 1.15 kt)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 34 eff, 1.52 kt)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 378 t)
Faye(25 AM, 41 eff, 1.78 kt) -- uridium(3.7), corundium(5.1)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 36 eff, 1.49 kt) -- sorium(1.
, boronide(8.0)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.24 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 35 eff, 1.12 kt) -- corbomite(1.9)
Borrelly(17.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.37 kt)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.4 kt) -- corundium(1.4)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 11 t) --
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 865 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 165 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 327 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 428 t)
Total Production: 31.49 kt, +9.7%. A near-reversal over the last four years, buoyed by the mines being sent to Halley's Comet. It is still just a hair(a mere 150 tons) off the peak back in '69. Neutronium remains the top concern in the short term, and Stephan-Oterma will run out in months. Corundium, sorium, and gallicite will all see multiple deposits dry up in the next several years, but it is not expected to place any strain as those are all minerals will plenty in the stockpile -- for now.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & ProductionTier A(rare usage): Vendarite(56 kt), Corbomite(53 kt), Tritanium(45 kt), Sorium(40 kt)
Tritanium moves into the lowest tier as it's seen very little use of late, and the gradually increasing amount of sorium as well for the same reason.
Tier B(some usage, but a good stockpile): Uridium(97 kt), Boronide(44 kt), Gallicite(39 kt), Mercassium(24 kt)
Two significant concerns here are gallicite, which declined slightly, has a number of sources drying up soon, and will see pretty much constant need for use in missiles. Increasing that amount against a time of war would be preferred, but is not possible right now and that could be a problem. Mercassium stockpiles shrunk by 3kt and that may well continue also with Triton's contribution shrinking with each passing year. Vital to the research laboratories, it could well become a bigger priority next time around.
Tier C(major usage, needs close watching/ under 20 kt): Duranium(16.4 kt), Corundium(16.1 kt)
A slight 600-ton decline in duranium, which looks to be pretty stable. Corundium continues to gradually increase and while the number of sources will shrink soon, there's enough to last quite a while and tapping superdistant comet Ikeya-Zang(incoming at 12.5b km) will likely become an option well before it runs out.
Tier D(major usage, economic growth limiter): Neutronium(9.25 kt)
Although it is up sharply over the period(+3.32 kt), neutronium is now on the decline again mostly due to the incredibly expensive operations of the larger shipyards. Continued investment in Halley's Comet to counteract this is expected.
ID. IncomeTaxes(population): 43.5 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 5.31 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 5.09 m
Scrap Sales: 567 k
Taxes(civ. fuel): 153 k
Total: 54.67 m(+28.3%)
Balance: 689 m(+70 m)
Tourism is up sharply, double the numbers this year as compared to four years ago. Taxes continue to come in increased amounts from the colonies.
IE. ExpensesShipbuilding: 10.37m
Research: 9.42m
Mineral Purchases: 7.50m
Installation Construction: 7.00m
Shipyard Operations: 2.53m
Maintenance Facilities: 544k
GU Maintenance: 464k
GU Training: 250k
PDC Construction: 63k
Total: 38.13m(+33.0%)
Shipyard operations are expected to rise considerably in the next couple of years, and for the second straight cycle expenses have risen faster than income. Still a profit of better than 15m per year though, so nothing to be concerned about yet.
II. SHIPYARDSIIA. Commercial YardsTod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Emergency re-tool for the New York class is underway but less than 9% complete. March of '78 is the expected timeframe, so it'll be a while.
P&A Group(4, 80.2 kt)
** Building the second of six planned quartet of Long Beach-class fuel harvesters. This yard will be busy with the for quite some time, at the end of which fuel concerns could be largely a thing of the past
Estalerios Navais(2, 73.8 kt)
** Expanding capacity for a while to reach at least 125kt so it can be used for the New York or similar size vessels.
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 50.7 kt)
** Idle. Set at a decent size now to be used for a variety of potential things.
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle. Used for the Lexington-class shuttles.
IIB. Naval YardsWartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Retooling for the Nimitz '76(second-gen missile ship). Expected to complete around the end of next March.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Building Brooklyn '72(Beam-armed gunship). Completion expected in spring of '78.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Idle
KSEC(4, 1 kt)
** Idle. Used exclusively for the Forrestal sensor ships.
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIESIIIA. Earth** Three active training facilities
** Brigade HQ expected to finish in March. The other two are idle.
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITYIVA. EarthResearch Lab(33%) -- June 2077
Naval Shipyard(25%) -- June 2077
Commercial Shipyard(15%) -- February 2077
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 15%) -- 8-9 annually
Mine Construction(12%) -- 8-9 annually
V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS** Reduced-Size Missile Launchers(Elyse Buckler) -- January 6 2077
** Composite Armor(Edward Groat) -- Mid-January 2077
** Defender '76 Missile(Karabishi Juishao) -- Mid-February 2077
** Small-size Defender Anti-Ship MIssile Magazine(Garland Sidhom) -- May 2077
** Medium-size Defender Anti-Ship Missile Magazine(Harlan Welle) -- May/June 2077
** Phoenix Engine, 300t variant(Clint Wyche) -- October/November 2077
** Assault Infantry Battalion(Cedrick Wormack) -- Winter/Spring 2078
** Ground Unit Strength(Alphonse Lambeth) -- Spring 2078
** Phoenix Engine, 400t variant(Shannon Patteson) -- Summer 2078
** Reactor Power(Alejandro Ottenson) -- Summer 2078
** MJD 46-4b, Military Jump Drive for use in the Fox Plan(Curtis Gloster) -- Summer/Fall 2078
** Thermal Sensor Strength(Elwood Tousant) -- Fall/Winter 2078
** Turret Tracking Speed(Joe Tycho) -- Winter 2078/79
** Fuel Efficiency(Rosemary Urenda) -- 1Q 2079
** Electronic Hardening(Ross Dodge) -- 1Q 2079
** WT Excalibur 135 Meson Turret(Mike Minaya) -- 3Q 2079
** EM Sensor Strength(Julio Kuchler) -- 3Q/4Q 2079
** Active Grav Sensor Strength(Bessie Wallander) -- Late 2080
** Ultraviolet Lasers(Eva Vadnais) -- 2081/82
** Minimal-power Efficiency Engines(David Gruis) -- Mid-2080s
** Jump Drive Minimal Size Theory(Reynaldo Darrington) -- Late 2080s
21 current projects which is fairly typical for the way things have gone with a peak of 24 about a year ago. Seven are prototypes though. The actual amount of general research going on at any one time has not increased that much. More prototypes, more individually expensive, are needed all the time.
As an extreme example, a little while back SPACE looked into the requirements for a jump drive capable of propelling one of the South Carolina-class superfreighters. The prototype phase alone would require billions of manhours. It was expected to be more costly than advancing general jump drive knowledge, which would allow a cheaper, more efficient drive to be produced, and so the idea was scrapped since we don't need such a drive yet. But this is the direction in which research is going. Current expectations are that in a couple decades, we may well be in a situation where more of the development budget is spent on specific application systems than on general advancements.
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETSVI A. Military BasesAlaska(4, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(2, 13.3 kt, 254 crew, missile base + sensors)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 12 installations(+50%), 300.6 kt(+104%), 5,080 crew(+101%)
VI B. Combat ShipsMB Nimitz(3, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
GB Brooklyn '72(1, 13.45 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)
Total: 4 ship, 55.3 kt, 1,475 crew, 7m fuel
Up from just one last time. Slowly but surely, a ramshackle navy is forming.
VI C. Military Non-combat ShipsMV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
SB Forrestal IIb(8, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
SB Forrestal III(9, 650t, 14 crew, 3692 km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)
Total: 21 ships, 27.65 kt(-17%), 460 crew(-32%), 1.55m fuel(-29%)
The big stories here are the scrapping and deleting of obsolete classes and the transition to the third-gen Forrestals. Overall this had lead to a smaller, but still a bit more effective MNC branch. It will shrink a little further once all of the old Forrestals are replaced.
VI D. Commercial VesselsTT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexington IIId(27, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
FH Long Beach(4, 79.1 kt, 411 crew, 379 km/s, 1.5m fuel, fuel harvester)
FH Perry III(17, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
FT South Carolina(4, 164.6 kt, 531 crew, 607 km/s, 2.15m fuel, superfreighter)
Total: 68 vessels(+4.6%), 1.77 mt(+95%), 8,631 crew(+55%), 45m liters fuel(+38%)
A few classes went the way of all flesh here, but the Long Beach and South Carolina were added. The official commercial fleet doesn't have many more ships in it, but it's a lot bigger in size.
Grand Total: 105 assets(+11%), 2.15 mt(+95%), 15.6k crew(+70%), 53.6m liters fuel(+45%)
The total tonnage of Naval assets nearly doubled in the last four years, and the Long Beach harvesters will ensure that it continues to rise. Enlisted personnel have quadrupled in the past decade, and there is now more fuel in ships in service than there is in reserve. A temporary situation.
Available Crew: 127k(+21%)
VI E. Fuel StatusEarth -- 10.6m liters
Titan -- 16.0m
Callisto -- 5.2m
Total -- 31.8m liters(-23%). The first reserve decline in memory, but it's largely due to the amount put into the new massive commercial ships. This should reverse itself once the Long Beach constructions are finished.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS** Brigade HQs(4)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(10)
** Garrison Battalion(34)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 364k(+9%)
** Note: last report's calculation was wrong, incorrectly listing the number as 380k instead of 333k
The available officer corps remains nearly at full employment.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONSVoliva Carrier Company(57 vessels, 4.94m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(36, 3.13m)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(13, 1.9m)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 430k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 160k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 110k)
Presnar Freight(2, 60k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, 100k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Total Vessels: 117(+18%)
Total Civilian Income: 10.83m(+50%)
Competition has never been healthier in the civilian sector. The 'big two' of Voliva and Jensrud now appear to have a legitimate third wheel in the form of Tolles Transport & Logistics. Voliva expanded their operations by nearly 50%, yet this was only enough to retain a 45 market share.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS** Naval Officers: 122 of 165 assigned(73.9%), +1.1%
** Ground Forces Officers: 61 of 67(91.0%), +1.2%
** Civilian Administrators: 28 of 34(82.4%), -10.7%
** Scientists: 21 of 36(58.3%), -2.3%
Overall: 232 of 302(76.8%), -0.4%
The employment picture here has held steady now for over a decade.