Cenaesian Space Authority
Cluaine na Córoine | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | CSA |
|---|---|
| Motto | Cras Es Noster |
| Formation | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Moscou, Crown Kingdoms |
Official language | Cenaesian, Rhineish, Midland |
Administrator |  |
| Cenaesian Orbital Tether Hub, Terra | |
Parent organisation | Member states |
Budget |  $751.00 billion (2067) |
Staff | 75,987 |
The Cenaesian Space Authority (CSA) is a Supranational Union created to develop, enforce, and coordinate standards for activty in Terran orbit and beyond by national governments and private entities alike. Since its inception the Cenaesian Space Authority has assisted in individual national space programs to coordinate and collaborate with other Cenaesian, and occasionally non-cenaesian, space programs to develop joint rocketry and scientific programs. CSA has a staff of over seventy-five thousand personnal spread between various missions, projects, and facilities. The organization was first founded as a way to facilitate the legal and standardization discussions needed to make plans for an international space station come to fruition.
The Cenaesian Space Authority effectively regulations space travel in the Sol System, and is the principal operator of the Terran Orbital Tether Network and coordinates efforts for the development and maintenance of the Terran Orbital Defense Matrix.
History
Early Operations (1979-1981)
The Cenaesian Space Agency was formed in October 1979 in order to facilitate the necessary bureaucratic functions needed to create an international space station which was interoperable with the equipment of the various national space programs of the Cenaesian continent. Specifically, the space station was meant to eventually house ten spásaire (Rhineish: Astronaut) concurrently. In order to accomplish this, the space programs of the Crown Kingdoms, Midland Republic, and the Republic of Tortuga Blanca created the original charter of the CSA— empowering the organization to set binding technical standards and procedures. z Among the first standards developed was a new universal docking adaptor known as the Universal D'ocking Mechanism, capable of providing access for personal as well as the connection of utilities such as power, communications, and fuel between spacecraft. In the interim, to minimize expenses, a universal adaptor series was designed which had on the exterior facing side the newly standardized connections of the UDM and on the interior crossover connectors compatible with each of the nations disparate standards. As a result the three adaptors were dubbed the Universal Docking Mechanism Adaptor Series A/B/C. Each letter represented the nonstandard docking port which it was compatible with.
| Universal Docking Mechanism Adaptor Series | Equivalent Docking Mechanism | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| UDMAS-A | Mk3 Intra-Spacecraft Access Way | Crown Kingdoms
|
| UDMAS-B | Spacecraft Docking Ring | Template:Country data Midland Republic |
| UDMAS-C | Transfer Node Adaptor | Template:Country data Tortuga Blanca |
In addition to developing standardized docking specifications, the CSA developed a detailed roadmap to identify key timelines and goals of the joint space station. Specific goals included scientific research projects, the examination of space upon the human body, and the development of advanced space construction and manufacturing techniques. The last objective was of particular interest to officials in the Crown Kingdoms.
Out of the roadmap the decision was reached to utilize a service module initially designed for use aboard the Mag Mel Space Station series, developed and launched by the Imperial Cenaesian Crown Space and Aerospace Ministry (ICCSAM). In order to launch it into orbit a Duck VI Medium Lift Rocket from the Midland Republic.
International Station (1981-1990)
With the development of the roadmap, dubbed the Cenaesian Consensus Upon Low Terran Space Exploration Development, ground was broken on a facility in the Highlander Federation. Located in Rockwall along the edge of the Meridian Bay, the facility would serve as a physical research and development center for the CSA to develop physical standards further. Additionally, the facility would be the most advanced center for spaceflight in the whole of the Highlands as the nation became a signatory and member of the CSA.
In October of 1984, the Union service module was shipped to the newly opened Rockwall Spaceflight Research and Monitoring Campus for final testing and evaluation before being shipped to Tojo Republican Spaceflight Launch Complex in the Midland Republic. Poor weather delayed the launch multiple times until finally, the module launched aboard a Duck VI rocket. Communication was established and its solar arrays were deployed a day later, with mission control occurring from Tojo Launch Complex and tracking from Rockwall Campus.
Additional progress was made rapidly, as CSA facilities expanded alongside ground facilities of other national space programs in Cenaesia. Notably, CSA and ICCSAM research teams collaborated on the design and construction of the Moscou spacecraft Materials Testing and Handling Laboratory. The campus was an expansive 250,000 square meters of manufacturing, research, and final assembly space. The laboratory would go on to eventually design the Tortuga launch vehicle, a cheap medium-lift vehicle which was later used as the base for the Imperial Cenaesian Navy's Tech Duinn ballistic missile, a submarine-launched weapon.
Prior to its decommissioning in 1989, the International Space Station grew to approximately 180 tons. This weight was composed of four solar arrays, two radiators, and four modules alongside a support truss. The station generated valuable scientific insight and provided a jumpstart to the commercial satellite industry as commercial payloads hitched rides aboard rockets bringing new supplies and modules to the station.
Economic Downturn (1990-1991)
The 1990 stock market crash brought the Terran economy to its knees for several quarters, and economic growth slammed to a measly .3% worldwide from its 1989 5.3%. Subsequently, budgets for space travel were slashed in all member states. Smaller budgets and the success of the International Space Station resulted in the remaining nations of Cenaesia to pool their resources as members of the CSA. Additionally, the rapid decline of commercial launches of satellites and other payloads during the crisis resulted in the financial collapse of financially overextended launch companies such as the Cenaesian Launch Consortium. These launch companies, however, were almost entirely state-owned. Resultingly, governments eager to generate additional revenue sold the financially distressed assets to two of the largest players— the Crown Kingdoms owned Crown Space Services and the privately owned Space Interest Consortium.
This consolidation of firms resulted in the number of different launch systems dropping from an estimated forty systems to a mere ten. As governments cut interest rates and the economy recovered, the newly gained power of the CSA allowed it to press forward with a new mission. In November of 1991, the Tojo Launch Complex was reactivated for non-military use as plans for a new joint space station, dubbed Cenaesia II, were developed.
Downfall Incident (2001)
Programs
Terran Orbital Tether Network
Main Page: Terran Orbital Tether Network
The Terran Orbital Tether Network is a series of tethers connecting from the surface of Terra to one of several orbital space stations. The CSA was the organization which designed, financed, and now maintains the network. Tethers which land in nations outside of Cenaesia however typically pay for tether services and are paid for leasing rights to the land and airspace which is taken up by a tether and its ground station.
Inside of Cenaesia there are six tethers, two of which are located in the Crown Kingdoms. The largest and highest capacity tether on terra is additionally located at the Moscou Mega Tether Station. As a result of the tethers and the settling of Nova Terra, the traffic on the tethers is approaching saturation as of 2062. As a result, spaceports which had increasingly seen steep declines in use due to the low cost of transporting cargo to orbit via the tether system saw a reverse in their shipments. Additionally, as capacity upon the Cenaesian hub is reached CSA has introduced additional surge pricing as a means of ensuring adequate surplus capacity as dictated by CSA Regulation 1.54C and as directed by the Imperial Cenaesian Navy of the Crown Kingdoms.
The Cenaesian Orbital Hub as a result houses eight tethers, which all dynamically adjust with equipment of their ground stations to maintain ideal tension between Terra and the Station. The other two orbital hubs feature fewer tethers. In theory, half of the tethers could fail catastrophically with zero impact on service beyond the loss in lift capacity. The minimum number of tethers required is two, due to the station's nonequatorial orbital position. However, in such an eventuality the specific tethers which remain intact would matter due to the asymmetric locating of them tethers.
The orbital Hub, however, is in too low of an orbital position to safely accommodate the mega-freighter typical of the cargo routes between Terra and Nova Terra. As a result, cargo brought from the ground to orbit via tether is loaded onto tugs, which move it to one of several Lagrange point cargo terminals where it is transferred onto a freighter for its journey. Cargo which is brought to orbit via spaceplane or rocket is also delivered to orbital hubs before transport to the Lagrange point cargo terminals.
As a result of the CSA effectively building out the majority of orbital infrastructure, the organization enjoys wide latitude to set rules and regulation as well as enforce any rules set. Resultingly, the CSA operates a fleet of patrol cutters and other similar craft to enforce collection of tariffs and other port fees as well as to root out unauthorized cargo operations as it maintains its monopoly. Such a monopoly on power has resulted in Cenaesian rivals, such as the United Socialist States of Confederacy, to seek to circumvent the rules as they chafe against the Cenaesian imposed order of affairs. However, critics of the move to circumvent the CSA noted that since implementing Cenaesian Common law by default to engage and hunt down pirates and other fraudsters the costs resulting from malicious attacks in space have decreased dramatically.[1]
Terran Orbital Defense Matrix
Main Page: Terran Orbital Defense Matrix
The Terran Orbital Defense Matrix (TODM)is a series of orbital platforms, sensors, and highly mobile spacecraft designed and tasked with fending off any attacks from extraplanetary attackers. The TDOM was conceived by senior researches at the CSA following the devastating events of the Downfall Incident. Noting the total lack of orbital defense mechanisms, they proposed a complex series of sensors and weapons platform to protect against the possibility of any similar event occurring again.
The weapon platforms and other militarized systems themselves are designed, launched, and operated by the Cenaesian League with the Midland Republican navy taking the lead in day to day operations. The CSA, however, oversees the maintenance of the platforms as well as logistical support and secure communications between the platforms to orbital communication hubs before being routed directly command and control systems at several secure military installations across Cenaesia.
The development of the platforms has resulted in competing platforms being developed by rival powers, with CSA officials calling the saturation of Terran orbit with military hardware an "Unfortunate cost of our safety"[2] However, the saturation of weapon systems in low-to-medium Terran Orbit and further has helped enforce the peaceful nature of the Terran Orbital Zone.
Funding
Currently, the CSA derives a portion of its budget from member states. This budget provides for the maintenance of facilities and programs that directly support national space programs such as ground station that provide satellite and other tracking services. Additionally, high-bandwidth secure communications direct to orbit are provided with priority to national space programs and governments in Cenaesia, especially the Crown Kingdoms and the Midland Republic which utilize the links to coordinate and maintain fleet organization as well as manage colonial territory and other holdings upon Nova Terra.
The largest source of income for the CSA comes as a result of their operation and ownership of the Terran Orbital Tether Network and the Lagrange point cargo terminals. This monopoly also allows them to collect service fees and other charges, alongside selling excess capacity upon the high bandwidth communication links that are established via its tethers. As a result, once operating costs and other expenses are accounted for remaining gross profit is redistributed to the various member states of the CSA as well as a small portion going to reimburse parts of charged fees to major customers who use the tethers. Such practices have been criticized in the past as anti-competitive but have not yet, as of 2069, been successfully challenged in Cenaesian Court.
- ↑ CSA Statistics, 2064 study upon piracy.
- ↑ Administrator's Comment