History

Estimated reading: 3 minutes

Kessler’s origins are shrouded in mystery, despite the best efforts of its inhabitants. The architecture of the station matches that of no known species, and its earliest records have been obscured, perhaps obliterated, by its former owners. The verifiable history of the craft is as follows:

Before A -400: radiological analysis of the vessel’s reactor core indicates that it has been running for at least 400 years. The exact age of the station is unknown.
Between A -400 and A-300: the station falls under the control of MOTHER early in this period; carbon dating and genetic analysis of materials discovered on the ship confirms a prior population of Macule, and the overwhelming majority of that species was in allegiance to MOTHER at that time. No remnants aboard are more recent than 300 years ago, suggesting it was vacated around that time.
A -185: the vessel is discovered, abandoned, at the fringes of the Spur region on the cusp of the Belt of Tiamat. It is commandeered by the Alliance, and swiftly cleared for manifold transition back to friendlier space.
A -175: Kessler emerges from manifold collapse after 10 years – a remarkable improvement on the initial estimate, which is discovered to be due to the unauthorised boarding of the vessel by the crew of its escort. Taking on untold risk to explore the ship while they and it were in transit, they managed to reactivate its manifold drive – and in doing so, cut their journey time in half. Prosecution is deferred as researchers flock to investigate the new discovery.
A -150: the second generation of the scientific community aboard Kessler (known in this time as the Geostation, after its ability to remain in geostationary orbit) celebrates an Alliance-mandated upgrade to the life support in the habitation areas, which will allow them to expand their crew complement considerably. Other areas aboard still require rebreather equipment and PPE, but this is an important step in making the ship a home – rather than merely a place of work and study.
A -120: Kessler’s zones are fully mapped, though not all of them are fully explored. The vessel’s capacities for absorbing and processing astral debris are well-known, and much sought after; it accepts its first contract, and embarks on a long and lucrative career in planetary waste management. It is also renamed Geostation Kessler, after Kessler syndrome – the condition of a planet being blockaded by junk in its orbit, which the station is uniquely equipped to cure.
A -40: Kessler is provisionally granted “planet-state” status by Alliance convention – a decision reached after much deliberation, and with some controversy. Celestial bodies must generally meet three conditions to become Alliance states: they must exceed a minimum size threshold, they must be able to support life indefinitely without external assistance, and they must consistently remain within a solar system of address. Kessler meets none of these requirements – but it is much too influential to go without proper representation, and so the rules have been bent in its favour.