Factions

[BadElvis]

I read a little bit through the story related pages and thought that it might be good to write something about the factions in the solar system to replace the current 2 paragraphs on the brainstorming page. Am I right, that the older/archived pages don't say anything about them? If not, correct me.

Ganymede Energy Provision is one of the two big companies that mine hydrogen on Jupiter. The headquaters is located on Ganymede, the biggest moon of Jupiter. On Ganymede, there is also a large space port, where hydrogen is loaded on huge tanker ships, that supply the whole solar system. The Company has a fleet of special mining ships that shuttle between Jupiter and Ganymede, where the hydrogen is loaded on the tankers.

RedGas Corporation is the second large company mining hydrogen on Jupiter and the biggest rival for GEP. Its name comes from the red surface of Jupiter. The headquaters is on Callisto another moon of Jupiter. This company mainly supplies the fleet of military and law enforcement firms with fuel. To satisfy these demanding clients, RGC has lots of smaller tanker ships orbiting around Jupiter and other planets nearby. Client space ships can dock on to the tankers to fill up their tanks. Empty tanker ships go back to Jupiter to refill their hydrogen tanks.

Flexible Mining Corporation This smaller company is not in competition with the two above because it mines all kinds of precious metal on locations that are unattractive to other firms. They have specialized on exploiting asteroids with small unmanned mining drones. Since it is a smaller company, it is always dependent on a group of fighting ships. These defend the mining drones in case of an attack by pirates or other villains. The company has a large mother ship where the drones bring the ore.

Goku Defense Applications is a private military/law enforcement firm. It satisfies the constant demand for mercenaries in the solar system. Other Factions buy the services of GDA to protect their own ships or raid rivals. In space there is no human force strong enough to punish the GDA for any crimes they committed on behalf of some other big company. Only on the bigger planets, there are strong military units to prevent their actions.

[beni]

I gotta say it's a nice piece of human universe.

It also fits into the universe I built. Your part refers to the bit I wrote down here.
Of course this will need some changes. Especially the part that security companies could not settle in space. I don't know if we should change that, but I think it would fit better. Also I cannot remember, why they couldn't settle in space, so I don't mind, having security firms protect the mining drones.

[nicolasc]

Awesome... That exactly what I imagined, but could not put into words.

Some more ideas... Venus got terraformed, as is beeing colonialized; Mars has been settled on some time ago, but the has not been terraformed; Titan (largest moon of Saturn), could be occupied by another mining corp, or used for military military facilities of various kinds...
Earths moon has some bases on it - mostly leftovers form the second space race in 2040 -, but it is not really inhabited - compared to Mars or Venus. The Aegis-array on Moon is used to redirect any asteroid to prevent them crashing with Earth.

just my .02$
nico

[patrick]

yea...
the spice must flow! I like your idea alot!

[x3n]

the second space race in 2040

2040 is way too early. add 200-1000 years.

[beni]

Yeah, I figured that we have to add at least 300 more years to make it anything "realistic".

[patrick]

How about companies that are currently very famous and big. Here are some examples:
- Google? Today some people are afraid that they are too powerful already. Maybe Google will break down in the future or control all information (for whomever pays the most).
- Banks? They are very strong and may invest much money into space colonization projects. Perhaps they will break down like the UBS or control most financial flows. Imagine Credit Suisse Space Investment Corporation.
- Medicine? Will evolve but probably won't change change in structure.

Since we try to stay realistic (as good as you can do this by telling something about the future) it would also be fun to find some of the big companies in the future again. Just for fun. And it will also create atmosphere, for sure.

I think this may be a good idea to have real companies along the invented space mining companies.

[beni]

How about companies that are currently very famous and big. Here are some examples:
- Google? Today some people are afraid that they are too powerful already. Maybe Google will break down in the future or control all information (for whomever pays the most).
- Banks? They are very strong and may invest much money into space colonization projects. Perhaps they will break down like the UBS or control most financial flows. Imagine Credit Suisse Space Investment Corporation.
- Medicine? Will evolve but probably won't change change in structure.

Since we try to stay realistic (as good as you can do this by telling something about the future) it would also be fun to find some of the big companies in the future again. Just for fun. And it will also create atmosphere, for sure.

I think this may be a good idea to have real companies along the invented space mining companies.

I gave this some thought already before you mentioned it and I really like this, but I fear that this may trouble us when Orxonox becomes more famous. Product placement might be dangerous.
Of course an old CocaCola or McDonald sign on some space station would be fun.

[x3n]

- Medicine? Will evolve but probably won't change change in structure.

That's in my opinion the most interesting point in your post. And I disagree. I think medicine will change a lot.
Think about stem cells, cloning, designer babies, transplantation of almost every organ, neuro implants, artificial body parts, mind-controlled machines/computers, resuscitation, nano-robots, hormone-syringes (something like in bioshock, but only temporary), drugs, and so on... and it's all realistic.
Most of those technologies are already working in small dimensions, why shouldn't they be fully accessible to everyone in 300 years? Medicine is developing as fast as information technology. ENIAC was constructed in 1945, the first patient medicated with antibiotics was in 1942.

[bensch]

Just an idea on what google and amazon could do together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WqecXo1-Cc