Timeline

From SSRP
The timeline of the SSRP universe takes place in a divergent timeline from the real world. The following events showcase a reality where technology, both specifically for space travel and in general, was greatly accelerated compared to its real-world pace due to massively increased competition during the Space Race era between the United States and Soviet Union.

Due to accelerated tensions and developments, several historical events, such as Moon landings, happen months or years ahead of their real-world counterparts.

20th century

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin visible on Luna during the Apollo 11 landing.

1969

  • 12 June 1969: The Soviet rocket N1-L3 5L successfully launches off the pad carrying a dummy payload, which is carried to low Earth orbit. Apollo 11 is expedited and the Soviet Union moves forward with its ambitions.
  • 01 July 1969: Apollo 11 lands on Luna more than two weeks ahead of schedule.
  • 07 October 1969: After a monthlong delay, N1-L3 6L carries cosmonauts Vladislav Volkov and Andriyan Nikolayev to lunar orbit.

Early-1970s

  • 03 February 1970: N1-L3 7L suffers a catastrophic failure on the pad while carrying cosmonauts Valery Bykovsky and Pavel Popovich, who are killed. The programme is put on a short hiatus.
  • 11 April 1970: Soviet morale is restored upon learning of the failure of Apollo 13. N1 is resurrected and the Soviet government orders the construction of more rockets.
  • 22 September 1970: N1-L3 8L, carrying Alexei Leonov and Oleg Makarov, successfully touches down on Luna and become the first non-Americans to walk on the moon. The United States is caught in shock, and Congress injects billions more into the Apollo programme. The Space Race is far from over.
  • 07 March 1971: Apollo 14, after being delayed to account for additional equipment, lands on Luna with the intent to research the viability of a permanent lunar base.
  • 10 October 1971: N1-L3 9L lands on Luna with a lunar rover. Soviets also begin researching the prospect of permanent habitation. Several more successful Soviet Moon landings follow in tandem with Apollo landings.
  • 23 January 1972: Pressured by Soviet progress, United States President Richard Nixon announces Project Outlander, a highly ambitious plan to establish a permanent base on Luna using two simultaneous Apollo spacecraft. Soviet officials take note.
  • 20 February 1972: Saturn VI, the successor to the Saturn V rocket specially built for launching large, low-orbit assemblies like space stations, enters production.
  • 11 May 1973: Salyut-3 manages to successfully launch into orbit, later being inhabited.
  • 14 May 1973: Skylab launches into orbit. Much more focus is placed on station research, as the United States intends to use Skylab as practice for larger, more permanent space stations.

Mid-1970s

  • 04 June 1974: Construction of the first prototype Space Shuttle, Enterprise, begins.
  • 12 - 13 August 1974: Apollo 18 and 19 launch successively to Luna carrying equipment needed for a permanent base.
  • 17 August 1974: Liberty Outpost is constructed by the six astronauts of Apollo 18 and 19, who proceed to live in the base for several days. Skylab and Liberty Outpost communicate with each other for research.
  • 25 September 1974: Salyut-3 is expanded upon with the addition of several modules, giving the station a more permanent presence. The station is renamed Zvezda and competes directly with Skylab.
  • 03 February 1975: Space Shuttle Enterprise completes test runs.
  • 04 April 1975: N1-L3 10L lands a miniscule but permanent inflatable base named Iskander on Luna, echoing the United States. It only lasted four days before being evacuated due to a structural failure.
  • 10 December 1977: The United States agrees to Soviet negotiations requesting that a Soyuz capsule dock with Skylab, marking the first time since the dawn of the Space Race that the two superpowers had cooperated. However, tensions remained high.
Space Station Freedom (1991 design)
Space Station Freedom in orbit.

1980s

  • 3 August 1982: The first module of Space Station Freedom is launched into orbit using the Saturn VI, marking the second American space station in Earth orbit.
  • 14 September 1982: The European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency sign a treaty with the United States to send station modules to Space Station Freedom.
  • 3 March 1983: Originally intended to be part of a new space station, the ESA launches the Surveyor module to Freedom.
  • 11 October 1983: Japan's JAXA debuts the Ryuōmaru rocket system, providing an alternative launch vehicle to the Space Shuttle.

1990s

  • 26 December 1991: The Soviet Union collapses. The new Russian government takes over Zvezda and other existing space programmes.
  • 15 May 1992: The Constellation programme is founded, beginning development of the Ares I and V rockets as part of NASA's bid to return to Luna.
  • 11 June 1996: The Max Launch Abort System is launched as the first flight of the Constellation programme.

21st century

2000s

  • 19 March 2005: An Ares V rocket carries equipment to Liberty Outpost, as part of a plan to later establish a permanent population there.
  • 02 November 2009: United States President Barack Obama releases a budget that cancels the Constellation programme.
    Aiaa1
    An Ares V rocket carrying equipment to Luna.

2010s

  • 14 March 2017: The Aquila programme is founded as an international effort, overseen by the United Nations, to recolonize abandoned lunar outposts, establish orbital infrastructure around Mars, and to colonize Mars.

2020s

  • 23 February 2022: The Stawell Underground Research Facility is opened for the study of Dark Matter.
  • 13 September 2025: Liberty Outpost is resettled, becoming the earliest-formed settlement on Luna.
  • 20 October 2027: Aquila 2 lands on Mars' Schiaparelli crater carrying astronauts Eric Schofield, Miguel Antaba, Meiying Lin, Jacques Cousteau and Utandu Kpandi. They become the first humans to walk on the planet.
  • 01 December 2027: The Solar Postal and Communications Company is founded.

2030s

  • 2030 - 2035: A Swiss tech syndicate begins early development of Superluminal Communication.
  • 2031: The Tranquility Space Elevator is built on Luna.
  • 02 March 2030: Aquila 3 lands at Mars' Hellas basin.
  • 15 September 2033: Aquila 4 lands on the base of Olympus Mons on Mars.
  • 17 May 2035: The World Heath Organization declares AIDs an eradicated disease.
  • 12 July 2037: AXIOM is founded as Axiom Dynamics.
  • 23 July 2037: The Stawell Underground Research Facility confirms the existence of dark matter in the universe and manages to collect it.
  • April 2039: The Middle East Oil Crisis begins as a global critical oil shortage brings about worldwide turmoil.

2040s

  • 01 January 2040: The early stages of the Venusian Colony Project begin.
  • 2046: The Great Gulf War begins in the Middle East as a result of the Middle East Oil Crisis.
  • 08 March 2044: Axiom Dynamics brings its first reactor online in Berlin.
  • 30 December 2044: The Tanyaver Spaceport is completed in orbit of Venus.
  • June 2047: Avalon is discovered.
  • 10 September 2047: The Venusian platforms begin construction.
  • 06 June 2048: Iranian nuclear weapons fall into the hands of militants, causing the indiscriminate nuclear devastation of the Persian Gulf and Russia, leading to the total collapse of the Middle East. The United Nations Middle East Crisis-Relief Committee is formed alongside the UN Administration of Arabia and Margo, the UN Interim Government in Iran, and the UN Interim Government in the Levant.
  • 01 October 2047: The People's Republic of China undergoes an attempted coup in the aftermath of the Middle East Oil Crisis, although the CPC retains its power.
  • 21 October 2048: The first permanent Martian colony is established.

2050s

  • July 2051: The UN-HPGPF-JK mission in Jammu and Kashmir begins.
  • April 2055: The Jammu-Kashmiri Federal Republic is founded as an interim government of the United Nations.
  • 18 May 2052: The Constellation Act fails to unite Earth under a single flag, causing worldwide political strife.
  • 06 November 2052: Bharat becomes a permanent member of the United Nations.
  • 2053: The UN-AGPF-SC mission in Cyprus begins.
  • 11 June 2053: The Post-Constellation Act Truce Enforcement Committee is formed, marking the recently-renamed Peacekeeper Corps' shift into a military organization intervening as commanded by the United Nations.
  • 08 February 2054: The Colonial Administration of Luna is founded.
  • 30 February 2054: With the crippling of the Russian state, the rapid change in government in China, the complete collapse of Iran and the UAE, and the collapse of South Africa as a result of separatism and loss of support from China and Russia, Brazil and India, being the only remaining members of BRICS, formally dissolve the organisation.
  • 07 May 2056: NATO is dissolved, and the European Union confederalises and forms the European Union Armed Forces.
  • 06 April 2057: The first manned mission to Mercury is conducted by United Nations expeditionary ships.
  • 2059: The UN-RHD-V mission begins in Venezuela.
The fleet of the Jupiter Expedition reaches the Jovian System on September 4th, 2063.

2060s

  • 2060: The United Nations begins pooling resources to strengthen the African Union and African modernisation.
  • 18 December 2060: The Jupiter Expedition officially begins, and the Jupiter Expedition's fleet departs from Mars.
  • 04 September 2063: The Jupiter Expedition reaches Jupiter and establishes the Britt-Hendrix station.
  • 07 September 2063: The Naval Development Group is founded as the research & development branch of the SDCN.
  • 2065: The UN-RRM-K mission in Korea begins.
  • 25 May 2066: Life is confirmed to exist in the subsurface ocean of Europa by the science frigates of the Jupiter Expedition.
  • 27 October 2067: The People's Liberation Army launches a soft coup of the sitting CPC Government, becoming the new holders of state.
  • 18 October 2067: The Venusian platforms are officially unveiled.
  • 09 December 2067: The Colonial Administration of Venus and the colonial cities of Venus are formally established.
  • 14 April 2068: The Jupiter Blockade is lifted and the mass-settlement of Jupiter begins. The Colonial Administration of Jupiter is founded.
  • 2068: The Peacekeeper mission to Venezuela concludes.

2070s

  • 2070 - 2075: The first dome cities on Mars are constructed.
  • 18 April 2071: The Circumsolar Particle Accelerator is completed.
  • August 2073: The UN begins the Human Suns Project, aiming to regulate and reverse weather disasters caused by climate change.
  • 20 August 2078: Ringwatcher 1 Expedition begins charting Saturn.
  • 01 November 2076: The Crimson Sunday Incident occurs at Coal Shoes Casino, Plutus Platform, Venus, leading to the formation of the Venusian Law Enforcement Agency.

2080s

  • 18 April 2081: Gansai Industries unveils the first artificial intelligence to pass the Turing test.
  • 12 March 2085: Economic instability and civil strife leads to a coup d'état on Mars, in which the Martian Commonwealth declares its independence.
  • 2086: North and South Korea unify, creating the singular Republic of Korea.
  • 17 March 2087: Increasing hostilities between the United Nations and the Martian Commonwealth leads to the beginning of the Martian Revolution.
  • 08 April 2088: The predecessors to the Sol Intelligence Service, UN External Intelligence Agency and UN Internal Intelligence Agency are founded in response to the Martian Revolution.
  • 2086 - 2089: Research expeditions to Uranus and Neptune are conducted.
  • 2089: The UN-M-I mission in Ireland, also known as the Second Troubles, begins.

2090s

  • 2089 - 2090: The Final Frontier Project initiative is founded by the United Nations and the Sol Defence Corps. The Naval Development Group adopts the Superluminal Communication project from a Swiss tech syndicate.
  • 01 April 2090: The Ares Freedom Fighters Navy is crushed in the Second Battle of the Blockade, forcing the Martian Commonwealth to defend itself using its ground forces.
  • 2090 - 2095: Long-term habitation is established in the Saturnian system.
  • 28 May 2093: Operation Argyre Sand fails to provide the Martian Commonwealth means to produce necessary materiel resources.
  • 2095: The Humanitarian Aid and Civil Order Restoration of Mars mission begins.
  • 01 January 2095: The Martian Revolution ends with the Bombing of Olympia and the Commonwealth Instrument of Surrender.
  • 18 July 2097: The Neptune Blockade is officially established by the Sol Defence Corps.
  • 01 December 2097: UN External Intelligence Agency and UN Internal Intelligence Agency are merged into the Sol Intelligence Service and have their existences declassified.
  • 08 May 2099: The Superluminal Communications System is completed and is employed on the SDCN Escapade.
  • 03 November 2099: Venjent Construction and Manufacturing, the company responsible for the Venusian floating cities, files for bankruptcy and becomes defunct.
  • 20 November 2099: The SDCSS Atlantis is established in Neptunian orbit.

22nd century

2100s

  • 11 March 2100: The first Alcubierre faster-than-light travel system is unveiled by the Sol Defence Corps, and the SDCN Escapade makes it's maiden voyage.
  • 08 May 2103: The Rey Diaz Station is established by the SDC in Mercurian orbit.
  • 12 September - 08 October 2103: The colony planet of Lacaille is charted and settled by the Sol Defence Corps.
  • 19 October - 08 December 2103: The colony planet of Homestead is charted by the Sol Defence Corps.
  • 04 September 2104: The SDCN Endurant is brought into service.
  • 02 March 2105: Lumicom is officially released to the public. The Secretary-General of the United Nations transmits a short message to the Governor of Mars as the first test of the finalised Superluminal Communications system.
  • 23 February 2106: The Neptune Blockade is lifted by the Sol Defence Corps.
  • 24 January 2107: 12 years after the end of the Martian Revolution, Mars exits martial law.
  • 23 August 2107: Homestead concludes initial settlement, becoming a colony proper.
  • 31 October 2109: The first Standard Model FTL drive is released for public application.

2110s

  • 12 June 2111: The SDCN Eunomia departs from Sol, headed for Ballad in the Hearth system, the furthest colonial project from Sol.
  • December 2111: The SDCN Ambassador and SDCN Emissary begin construction at Stratford Shipyards.
  • 25 - 29 December 2112: The SDCN Emissary and SDCN Ambassador are brought into service.
  • 09 September 2113: The SDCN Emissary reaches the Heze system and enters orbit around Avalon.
  • 10 - 20 January 2114: The colony planet of Ballad is charted and settled by the Sol Defence Corps.
  • March 2116: The SDCN Hellas Plantila charts the Mariner system.
  • July 2116: Research colonies on Matariki and Tautoru are established in the Mariner system.
  • 16 May 2116: The SDCN Telemachus conducts an orbit of Tyrian in the Mariner system.
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