The Great Expansion

"the Great Expansion" redirects here.

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The Great Expansion is period of time most defined by the rapid expansion of humanity through Orion's Arm. However, this period also marks a tremendous advance in many different technologies and practices during the exploration of Orion's Arm which set it apart from the Net Ages which preceded it. The Great Expansion came to an abrupt end with the occurrence of The Plague and its aftermath.

Noteable Features

Agelessness
EGP Physics
Quantum Cloud
Cybernetic Devices
Faster Than Light Travel
Interstellar Settlement
Biomolecular Engineering

Initial Phase

Once superluminal travel is worked out from EGP in 2351, humanity is able to rapidly expand throughout Orion's Arm and a whole new era begins. But, it takes nearly a full century to develop all the technology required for interstellar travel (mostly anti-matter fuel cells and the meta materials for the SLT sails) and to meet up with the pioneers who embarked on the earlier sub-light exploration missions to stars nearby Earth. Meanwhile, by the middle of the 25th century, PASS planning becomes an international standard and the first sterile homeostatic stations are established around Earth. Advances in material sciences lead to qubit computing and entanglement technologies early in the 22nd century but it isn't until integrated epidermal neural transmission mapping is developed in the early 24th century, that The Scape begins to take shape. At that point, augmented reality becomes increasingly connected with the production of tangible reality and the last agrarian communities disappear on Earth. During the 24th century, media and entertainment brands define the identities of the vast majority of people and overall population levels start to decline on Earth again. The second half of the 25th century sees advances in degenerate matter engineering (DME) and stellar turbine technology sufficient to reduce the cost structure associated with SLT tech manufacturing to make interstellar travel economically viable by the beginning of the 26th century. At this point, Terra Nova is established by an intellectual consortium led by Stanford, Osaka Bio Technical and the Bombay Institute and there is a race to claim possessions throughout the galaxy and increasingly commercialize the technology of space travel, energy acquisition and planetary settlement.

Commercialization Phase

Squatters take the initiative on many of the habitable planets nearby Earth, but by the early 27th century most have moved on to more distant planetary bodies after being displaced by national militaries and the Central Court for Arbitration in Darwin, AU upholds the eminent domain of the nations in JAND v Pundalag (2599). On the other hand, initial actors in the energy and mineral industries fare much better in maintaining their claims to the non-habitable bodies and quickly set up outposts throughout Orion's Arm and investment conglomerates start to pick up tons of licenses to the data from biotech firms in anticipation of the rush towards settlement. During the first half of the 27th century, homeostatic zones on Earth become increasingly large and public sentiment beings to turn in favor of the homesteaders now scattered throughout Orion's Arm. But the commercialization of terraforming by the middle of the century leads to a collapse in the market value in many initial homesteader properties and another wave of planetary speculation throughout Orion's Arm in the second half of the 27th century. The 28th and 29th centuries see a tremendous growth in interstellar development due to the establishment of the fee simple title system in the Ipswich Protocols (2678), public markets for planetary properties and extensive national infrastructure projects. It also during this time that the Sketchers (precursors to the Exiles) and Verisimilitude classification (precursors to the Cybers) forms in sub communities on the Scape. By the end of the 29th century, the market for developments is so hot throughout most of 20 thousands and 25 thousands (regions are 3d blocks measured from angle of incline +/- micro arc seconds along the galactic plane, radially from the galactic core by micro arc seconds from 0 on the line from Earth and a distance from the galactic core in light years) that most development firms have begun the terraforming process in Perseus and Saggitarius. But none of those planets have been sufficiently transformed by the time of the plague (2957).