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Description

Founded with the independence of Ceres (bottom left) and Vesta (bottom right) from UNAC authority in 2125 CE, the United States of the Solar Belt is among the oldest and most prosperous nations in the Sol system. The settlement of the Sol Belt was a very patchwork affair, accomplished over several centuries by an assortment of organizations for one key reason: resources. With so much raw material floating haphazardly between Mars and Jupiter, its inevitable utilization had been looming more or less since the dawn of interplanetary human spaceflight. Though still sparsely populated at a mere 135 million people spread across a hundred-odd bodies, the USSB is the industrial powerhouse of the system and a hotbed of engineering advancement, particularly its capital of Proserpina on Ceres.

The Sol Belt has been producing raw industrial resources and constructing spacecraft in microgravity since the first crewed base, now the city of Hestia, was established on Vesta in the mid 21st century by Minerva-SOL’s Project Hearth. Hephaestus Spaceworks, a subsidiary of Minerva, produced the stations for the Jupiter and Saturn system resident exploration programs, pioneering many techniques and designs for on-orbit station construction that are foundational to modern production methods. The Belt is also a notable contributor to the climate stabilization projects on Earth and the Martian terraforming program, supplying both with billions of tons of olivine over the last several centuries to sequester atmospheric carbon in accelerated weathering depots. Even after these hundreds of years, mining is still the primary industry of the Belt, and likely will be until its trove is exhausted.

Initial version completed 14/12/2020, latest tweak 1/02/2023.

Description

Founded with the independence of Ceres (bottom left) and Vesta (bottom right) from UNAC authority in 2125 CE, the United States of the Solar Belt is among the oldest and most prosperous nations in the Sol system. The settlement of the Sol Belt was a very patchwork affair, accomplished over several centuries by an assortment of organizations for one key reason: resources. With so much raw material floating haphazardly between Mars and Jupiter, its inevitable utilization had been looming more or less since the dawn of interplanetary human spaceflight. Though still sparsely populated at a mere 135 million people spread across a hundred-odd bodies, the USSB is the industrial powerhouse of the system and a hotbed of engineering advancement, particularly its capital of Proserpina on Ceres.

The Sol Belt has been producing raw industrial resources and constructing spacecraft in microgravity since the first crewed base, now the city of Hestia, was established on Vesta in the mid 21st century by Minerva-SOL’s Project Hearth. Hephaestus Spaceworks, a subsidiary of Minerva, produced the stations for the Jupiter and Saturn system resident exploration programs, pioneering many techniques and designs for on-orbit station construction that are foundational to modern production methods. The Belt is also a notable contributor to the climate stabilization projects on Earth and the Martian terraforming program, supplying both with billions of tons of olivine over the last several centuries to sequester atmospheric carbon in accelerated weathering depots. Even after these hundreds of years, mining is still the primary industry of the Belt, and likely will be until its trove is exhausted.

Initial version completed 14/12/2020, latest tweak 1/02/2023.