Advancements in cryogenic technology allowed the passengers of the Kepler Arks to be ferried in a biologic-stabilized slumber so that the 150-year journey passed, for the pioneers, in an instant.
In the year 2650, colonization began on Arcturus-α2 and Arcturus-α3, renamed Kepler and Tycho, respectively, as these rocky planets were in the inner and middle areas of Arcturus’s goldilocks zone. Both planets had liquid water and atmospheres not too chemically dissimilar from Earth, allowing the colonists to rapidly terraform these dead rocks into lush, arable worlds. Terraforming and colonization quickly radiated toward the outer reaches of the solar system.
The next 200 years saw a period of rapid population and economic expansion, with colonists setting up homesteads (which in many cases, grew into large, thriving cities) on 15 of Arcturus’s planets and moons, while interplanetary trade routes formed and entrepreneurial corporations proliferated.
Because the distance to Earth prohibited any old-world governance or intervention, Kepler Corporation had uncontested control over the administration of all communities, colonies, and trade in the Arcturus system, allowing it to accumulate immeasurable wealth for its shareholders and managers through taxes and favorable trade arrangements.
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