Superpower Stardom
(OOC - Please read)
(A PPPP)
Also known as
Who Budgeted That?
***
Even before the Third Mizrad-Maverican war, and the ensuing new order which had settled in Hemithea; there had been Ausitorians planning for superpower politics. For Ausitoria was large and prosperous; and devoted to the cause of liberal interventionism. They had and had always had a burning desire to make a mark for the better on the international scene. And they had a secret plan with which to achieve it: for only liberals could afford all the futuristic plans that had ripened in their committee papers.
That plan had originally came from a collection of rich private individuals and far-sighted civil servants. It was a potent mix: a hushed, varied, and intensely powerful ensemble gathering in thought, mind, and policy around the Royal East Ausitorian Commodities Company’s latest activities. There was cabinet backing. There was the support of all the senior civil servants of the Ministry of Intelligence and Statistics Security Committee. There was a joint working office in the Ministry of War. There was the agreement of the boards of each of the ten largest companies in Ausitoria – if Capital, the foremost retailer, was excluded.
Between them they controlled about four fifths of the nation’s mobile assets, and effectively ran the government, where the civil servants, sworn to secrecy, had penned the seminal introduction to the topic secret report of official recommendation.
And Ausitoria had decided to cast its budget behind the gambit: the quest for profit and prosperity was driving Ausitoria to the stars.
XFLR-6(c)
Pax Prosperitas
By Order
From: XFLR-6(c), Space Division, The War Office, Libraria and Ausitoria
To: The Cabinet Policy Intelligence and Security Committee, Libraria and Ausitoria
Encryption: TOP SECRET. CPISC, MISC & XFLR-6(c) ONLY.
My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We, the Lord Advisors of the Royal East Ausitorian Commodities Company, in consultation with Drake Inc, Marlow plc, The Royal and General Bank, and Aerosphere; and the MIS and the Space division in the War Office; would like to submit to the cabinet our secret estimate that, now that our Empire is larger; it is worth the investment risk to start building permanent bases beyond our own atmosphere. The cost would run to about 1.4 trillion bukmarks for the private sector and half again for the War Office to create three starship fleets (one in close earth orbit, one based on the moon, and one in the asteroid belts); which includes money to maintain operations for a decade. This is not a sum to spend lightly, and it must be underlined that this is at the instigation of our finest profit-making companies.
There are already more than a thousand Ausitorian satellites in orbit, mostly owned or operated by the companies consulted; and the space sector is already among the fastest growing economic sectors, averaging 14% growth. Recent advances made by our subsidiaries in the area of HTOL (Horizontal Take-off & Landing) space shuttles has already shown that within the year we shall be in the position to put satellites into low orbit at less than a fifth of present costs, lowering telecommunications costs still further; but this technology also opens the way to further advances maintaining these satellites by refuelling from the moon; which would reduce fuelling costs and result in profit. Later in time, putting high-altitude satellites into orbit from the moon would reduce the cost of pushing them through the atmosphere and out of our gravitational well. These profits would run to at least 5 million per satellite launched hereafter, with profit estimates suggesting 5 billion in savings per year from our nation alone. If a few regional markets can be cornered profits should run towards 50-100 billion per year.
The second source of profit could be from directly mining materials. There are trillions in expensive metals in asteroids – so much that the metals might be considerably devalued. However they do have a base value, particularly in electronics, so assuming a 50% fall in the price of gold, the profit of bringing back 10 tons would be about 200 million; and the money invested would be sufficient to allow this to be done several times a day to the tune of an annual profit of about 200 billion. (The amount imported over a decade would only be equal to about the amount currently owned by Ausitorian citizens, i.e. perhaps a hundredth of all Gold around the world, but other companies might also join the scramble).
These provide 12-15% annual returns, which is profitable even given the risks associated with bringing proven technologies to the market. This is also before other possible sources of money are considered. Besides the enormous R&D stimulus, general educational stimulus, and patriotic bonus; building such factories on the moon would allow advances in materials processing feasible only in a zero-gravity environment which could perhaps provide great long term profit. In addition the expense of further space exploration could be considerably reduced by building and launching the rockets from the moon: a third of our own space budget for a start (half a trillion bukmarks in the next decade). And finally, control of space, and the ability to deny it to our enemies; might in decades to come lay the foundation for a space-based Empire.
It has been suggested by the MIS that implementation of such space-sector activities and defenses be carried out hurriedly and secretly, to attempt to establish a lead over other nations, many of which maintain orbital weapons platforms; but few of which are seriously looking beyond LEO. Official documents should refer to plans to build a scientific unstaffed base on the moon and a new network of communications satellites within the year. A joint working committee should be able to construct sufficient fleets in that time, although the building of the machines will make our real intentions obvious within nine months, when our initial platforms should be launched.
And now, a mere seven months of hushed frenetic activity later, the day had come. Across the turquoise bay from the booming city of Rajing the Prime Minister had snipped the silver scissors in the extravagently decorated tropical launch space centre. The champagne was of the very best sort, and there was a lot of it. For there would be not one but three launches today.
The last ship to be launched, His Imperial Majesty's Spaceship Venturer, would be a conventional heavy-lift rocket, with a conventional series of boosters, a designated command tower for Ausitoria's first moon base, inflatable habitat modules, and four select astronauts. This spaceship had been constructed publicly 'for unmanned exploration of the outer solar system', and had been a useful smokescreen for all the secret activity around the other two ships: the hundred-meter HMSS Audacious and HMACSS Vanguard. And it was those two ships that would be remembered; for they had the distinction of being the first designated flagships for the Earth and Moon fleets, and the first Ausitorian warships to slip the bounds of Earth's atmosphere.
It was the Audacious went first, making a most appalling racket, pushing itself towards an orbit of 300 km, with plenty of fuel spare for maneouvering. And then, when it was out of sight, the Vanguard lumbered into space behind it, heading that terrible distance to geostrationary orbit.
Each warship had a crew of twelve, which was considered the smallest reasonable number for psycological reasons. They had a spinning rope for catching escorts with centrifugal 'gravity'. They had an unusually large number of manouvering engines. And then they looked quite different: they were short and squat and with stubby wings and inner modules that contained droids, and missiles, and could even provide some slight maneouvering ability in the event that they came down to Earth unexpectedly.
But as the Venturer, the last to fly, succesfully trundled towards the stars, absolutely nobody in Ausitoria had any immediate intention of being brought back down to earth, literally or metaphorically. Plenty of nations were in space, but profitability rather changed the game. For this was no white elephant they were pursuing: it was the Goose that layed the golden eggs. Who else, in months to come, would play catch-up?
But for now, Ausitoria, once more utterly confident in its supremacy, issued a press statement concerning their old enemy Firmador. For they were in power, and not about to brook any opposition.
By OrderA Joint Auso-Fallenrun Declaration to the World
In view of the continuing expenses of anti-piracy operations in Firmador, particularly while we continue to defend the free world in Heilanor, we have decided to claim, immediately, all islands hitherto under the control of Firmador, so as to ensure the safe navigation of all ships in the neighbouring seas.