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Colonization (or colonisation), sometimes also called space colonization and interstellar colonization, is an act of settling uninhabited, uncontested, unclaimed, or unoccupied celestial bodies with settlers in order to establish a population. In most civilizations which had reached the space age, colonization is the most common avenue for the expansion of such civilizations, aside from war and conquests. For [[humans]], colonization have been done since the late 21<sup>st</sup> century with the discovery of warp travel, allowing a massive population boom from 10 billion to the hundreds of quadrillions of humans which now exist within the local cluster of galaxies. This article will focus mainly on the human colonization. |
Colonization (or colonisation), sometimes also called space colonization and interstellar colonization, is an act of settling uninhabited, uncontested, unclaimed, or unoccupied celestial bodies with settlers in order to establish a population. In most civilizations which had reached the space age, colonization is the most common avenue for the expansion of such civilizations, aside from war and conquests. For [[humans]], colonization have been done since the late 21<sup>st</sup> century with the discovery of warp travel, allowing a massive population boom from 10 billion to the hundreds of quadrillions of humans which now exist within the local cluster of galaxies. This article will focus mainly on the human colonization. |
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== Overview == |
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While humans had colonized significant portions of uninhabited regions in their own Solar System prior to the discovery of warp travel, the true rise of colonization was after the discovery of FTL travel. |
While humans had colonized significant portions of uninhabited regions in their own Solar System prior to the discovery of warp travel, the true rise of colonization was after the discovery of FTL travel. In the early days of colonization, pioneering groups of several individuals would have to land with meager equipment, establishing an outpost which will produce oxygen and water for themselves as they slowly constructed multiple similar empty outposts for future settlers. As the settlers arrived, some may bring the equipment necessary for some degree of food production and basic mining equipment, enabling simple construction with local materials and some degree of self-sustenance. |
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Eventually, such small settlements can grow to a population of up to 100 people, at which point it will qualify as an "colony". Normally, around this point some ore mining equipment will arrive (either sponsored by the government or the corporation, sometimes collectively owned by the colonists). Ores mined from the planet, or other resources (for example, harvested crops/animals in livable planets), will start to be ferried off the planet to nearby commodity markets in exchange for further food, equipment, and machinery (e.g. smelters). From hereon, the population growth heavily depends on the value of the produce of the planet - if the planet did not contain particularly valuable resources, the growth will be slow and the population might stall around 1,000-2,000 if the planet is not a naturally inhabited planet. For E-class planets, however, often even scarcely resourced planets will grow to sustain a human population in the tens of millions. |
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As time passes, colonization became increasingly important, and hence the technology and business surrounding it developed. Large corporations began to appear which specialize in large-scale colonization, often straight up buying rights to extract resources from entire planets and sending ships with a capacity of 10,000 colonists, who generally come from more crowded areas, to said planets. The planets will almost immediately begin industrial production of metals and such, and the profits from such endeavors fund even more colonization. |
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Another option for relatively well-off individuals is to establish their own self-sustaining outpost. This has grown in popularity throughout the second decamillenium, with a large number of people living in small flats and properties in [[Mars]] and other heavily urbanized planets selling their place in exchange for rights to a large portion of a small remote satellite several hundred or thousand light-years away in addition to a personal colony-ship. Upon arrival, they will tether the ship and quickly establish multiple inflatable domes (which are micrometeoroid-resistant, per regulations) along with water acquisition methods. With oxygen and water supply secured, they will be capable of sustaining themselves in the "nature". Sometimes smaller colonies grew from these as well, although having these colonies simply as vacation-homes is not uncommon practice among the rich. |
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If a D, S, I, or T-Class planet happened to become particularly dense in terms of population, the local populace often begin to gather funds for a terraforming process in order to increase habitation. |
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Revision as of 10:51, January 22, 2017
This article is about colonization of celestial bodies. For the general definition, see here.
Colonization (or colonisation), sometimes also called space colonization and interstellar colonization, is an act of settling uninhabited, uncontested, unclaimed, or unoccupied celestial bodies with settlers in order to establish a population. In most civilizations which had reached the space age, colonization is the most common avenue for the expansion of such civilizations, aside from war and conquests. For humans, colonization have been done since the late 21st century with the discovery of warp travel, allowing a massive population boom from 10 billion to the hundreds of quadrillions of humans which now exist within the local cluster of galaxies. This article will focus mainly on the human colonization.
Overview
While humans had colonized significant portions of uninhabited regions in their own Solar System prior to the discovery of warp travel, the true rise of colonization was after the discovery of FTL travel. In the early days of colonization, pioneering groups of several individuals would have to land with meager equipment, establishing an outpost which will produce oxygen and water for themselves as they slowly constructed multiple similar empty outposts for future settlers. As the settlers arrived, some may bring the equipment necessary for some degree of food production and basic mining equipment, enabling simple construction with local materials and some degree of self-sustenance.
Eventually, such small settlements can grow to a population of up to 100 people, at which point it will qualify as an "colony". Normally, around this point some ore mining equipment will arrive (either sponsored by the government or the corporation, sometimes collectively owned by the colonists). Ores mined from the planet, or other resources (for example, harvested crops/animals in livable planets), will start to be ferried off the planet to nearby commodity markets in exchange for further food, equipment, and machinery (e.g. smelters). From hereon, the population growth heavily depends on the value of the produce of the planet - if the planet did not contain particularly valuable resources, the growth will be slow and the population might stall around 1,000-2,000 if the planet is not a naturally inhabited planet. For E-class planets, however, often even scarcely resourced planets will grow to sustain a human population in the tens of millions.
As time passes, colonization became increasingly important, and hence the technology and business surrounding it developed. Large corporations began to appear which specialize in large-scale colonization, often straight up buying rights to extract resources from entire planets and sending ships with a capacity of 10,000 colonists, who generally come from more crowded areas, to said planets. The planets will almost immediately begin industrial production of metals and such, and the profits from such endeavors fund even more colonization.
Another option for relatively well-off individuals is to establish their own self-sustaining outpost. This has grown in popularity throughout the second decamillenium, with a large number of people living in small flats and properties in Mars and other heavily urbanized planets selling their place in exchange for rights to a large portion of a small remote satellite several hundred or thousand light-years away in addition to a personal colony-ship. Upon arrival, they will tether the ship and quickly establish multiple inflatable domes (which are micrometeoroid-resistant, per regulations) along with water acquisition methods. With oxygen and water supply secured, they will be capable of sustaining themselves in the "nature". Sometimes smaller colonies grew from these as well, although having these colonies simply as vacation-homes is not uncommon practice among the rich.
If a D, S, I, or T-Class planet happened to become particularly dense in terms of population, the local populace often begin to gather funds for a terraforming process in order to increase habitation.