Race to the Stars (Map Game)

In the early 21st century, humanity began the rise of a new space age. While government spending on space exploration was slashed, private corporations began to fill the gap. 2011 marked the end of the Shuttle Age, and thus began a race into space. This 2nd Space Race composed of government space programs, and private corporations, all with the emphasis on space exploration, and to reach the ultimate goal: interstellar travel. You are a manager of a space program or private space corporation, and it is your job to create a new age of space exploration. Develop massive space infrastructure, explore the strange worlds of our Solar System, and settle them. Wage corporate espionage, corporate warfare or lobby in your nation’s government to secure your position, and achieve the ultimate goal of interstellar travel.

Rules

 * 1) Be Plausible.
 * 2) Treat others as you wish to be treated.
 * 3) The word of the moderators is law unless proven otherwise.
 * 4) Players can be affected by Earth-based events, as each turn will have news updates to Earth events, and news about events occurring in the race, and these will be displayed at the end of each turn.
 * 5) Turns last about a half year.
 * 6) Technological advances must be plausible.
 * 7) Government agencies can be affected by the actions of the nation’s government, and this will influence how these government owned space programs operate in the game. An example would be budget cuts, which means that missions can be delayed or even scrapped to reduce costs, or accidents can occur on your launches, prompting you to repair damages or place new designs back on the drawing board.
 * 8) Corporations cannot establish outposts or colonies outside Earth without government assistance, hence to do so, you may need to either a) swear allegiance to a government in order to construct your colony or b) establish a contract with a government to help you establish a colony and obtain the money to do so.
 * 9) Private corporations can use whatever tactics needed to deal with competitors, but military use will not be available until later in the 21st century.
 * 10) Use your funding and scientific discoveries wisely, for they may lead to new paths and technologies, and also more missions and profit for your program or corporation.
 * 11) Resources can be mined for longer duration missions into the Solar System, and worlds once technology develops properly, can be colonized.
 * 12) Be sure to invest on your programs wisely, as you have a variety of options to choose from. However, only a few make it out of the drawing board, so pick wisely.
 * 13) The game ends once an interstellar colony has been established by any one space agency, corporation or group of agencies and corporations.
 * 14) Have Fun!

Government Space Agencies
08:52, May 16, 2015 (UTC)
 * NASA (US) -
 * ESA (EU) - Dreamcaster1 (talk) 21:13, May 15, 2015 (UTC)
 * JAXA (Japan) - Vatonica
 * CNSA (China) - Graham Industries. Creating the future, today. (talk) 21:16, May 15, 2015 (UTC)
 * Roscosmos/RKA (Russia) - Scarlet Outlaw
 * ISRO (India) - I'm Always at the top of my game! | I get the Vertigo!
 * NASRDA (Nigeria) -
 * AEB (Brazil) -
 * KARI (South Korea) - Bow to Empress Kaori!!
 * CSIRO (Australia) -
 * ISA (Israel) -
 * IAIO (Iran) - Shikata ga nai! 21:19, May 16, 2015 (UTC)
 * SANSA (South Africa) -
 * GSSTC (Ghana) -
 * CSA (Canada) - Prinsenvlag.svg Hail Sean, Khan of Khans! (Free potatoes)
 * SUPARCO (Pakistan) -
 * NADA (North Korea) -
 * KazKosmos (Kazakhstan) -Fallacyman (talk)
 * LAPAN (Indonesia) -
 * KACST-SRI (Saudi Arabia) -

Private Corporations

 * Armadillo Aerospace -
 * Bigelow Aerospace Inc. -
 * Blue Origin LCC -
 * Copenhagen Suborbitals -
 * Deep Space Industries - Daxus Inferno
 * Frontier Astronautics LCC -
 * Intelsat -
 * Masten Space -
 * Planetary Resources - Agent Fires
 * Rocketplane Ltd. -
 * Sierra Nevada Corp. Space Systems -
 * Space Information Labs -
 * Shackelton Energy Company -
 * Moon Express -
 * CU Aerospace -
 * The Spaceship Company -
 * Virgin Galactic LCC -
 * Scaled Composites LCC -
 * SpaceX - QC
 * Ventions LCC -
 * XCOR Aerospace -

Moderators
Creator: Graham Industries. Creating the future, today. (talk) 21:08, May 15, 2015 (UTC)

Head Moderator:

Moderator:

Moderator:

Moderator:

Narrator: Graham Industries. Creating the future, today. (talk) 21:08, May 15, 2015 (UTC)

2015.0
'''8 players minimum reached. Initiating countdown sequence.....10, 9, 8, 7, 6, Ignition Sequence Start, 4, 3, 2, 1.......And we have liftoff!'''

Space News:   Earth News:  CNSA(China): We begin to invest research into upgrading the Long March rocket family and lobbying in the Politburo for increased spending on space exploration in order to increase patriotism in the nation. Several satellite launches are planned, and we begin to prepare the next rockets of the Long March family: the Long March 5 and the Long March 6, for launch. Meanwhile, further plans are meant to establish several additional Shenzhou launches, as work continues on the Shenzhou 11 mission, and the Tiangong-2 module of our space station. We begin research on key components needed to make exploration of the Solar System a possibility, such as the capacity to land a man on the Moon and establish a permanent outpost there by 2024, as well as a possible mission to Mars by the 2040-2060 time span. Meanwhile, we begin to strike some propositions with other programs, such as Roscosmos or AEB, and thus (with the approval of the Politburo), we propose to cooperate with them for space exploration, allowing the AEB to use our Long March rocket family, and allowing for us to assist them in the construction of any additional launch centers, and providing research for space technologies in exchange. Construction continues on the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Wenchang Island, in the province of Hainan, and an additional launch center is planned to be constructed in the Jilin Province, where future launches can also occurr.
 * Kepler reaches the 1,000th exoplanet mark, discovering in the process some of the most habitable exoplanets to date, including Kepler 438 b. 
 * The MESSENGER Probe crashes into Mercury. 
 * The Dawn probe enters orbit around Ceres.
 * The Eurasian Union is born on January 1, 2015.
 * The Yemeni Civil War begins. 
 * The War on Terror, also known as the Jihadist War continues to rage as ISIL demolishes ancient ruins and architecture and Boko Haram joins the war. 
 * Russia and Ukraine sign the Minsk II Accords, along with Germany and France. 
 * 2 major Earthquakes hit Nepal, 1 measuring over 7.8 on the Richter Scale and the other being 7.3. 
 * Roscomos (MOD): (1-6 decline, 7-10 accepts) 8. Accepted. 
 * AEB (MOD): 6. Declined. 

ESA (Europe): A heavy version of the Ariane 5 rocket is approved which is hoped will allow for more far reaching space missions without having to relay on NASA for launches. Along with this the ESA committee outlines a luna exploration plan starting with  luna fly bys in 2018, soft Landers with rovers in 2020 and eventually a manned landing in 2025. Other missions approved are a drilling probe to Europa which will seek life below its ice and a Titan probe which will study the possibilities of methane based biochemistry on the moon. We offer a collaboration with Canada and Australia to help with their projects in return for support and resources to aid our missions.  Work is continued for ouour Mercury flyby with the launch scheduled for 2016. Our spaceport at French Guiana is expanded. KARI (South Korea): We offer a team of 6 astronauts to JAXA and ISRO (3 astronauts each)
 * Australia (MOD): 3. Declined. 
 * CSA: If that means sending shit into space then yeah

India(ISRO):  The Indian Space Reserach Organisation begins plans on missions to colonize the moon and begins seeking permission from the Indian Department of Space. India also plans Operation Geodude, a plan to begin mining asteroids. India asks Japan for improved work between Space Agencies to get ahead of the Chinese. Meanwhile, Astrosat is launched to be a general purpose observatory.
 * Deep Space Industries proposes a contract in which the company will provide the needed resources for mining the asteroid.
 * India(Isro) accepts the contract for asteroid mining.

Roscosmos/RKA (Russia): We plan to send up a few satellites into Earth's orbit. Our space program starts to make 2 probes to send into space. One probe will land on Mars. The second probe will leave the Milky Way galaxy. Our military starts to make long range nukes that can go into space. Space shuttles are being built so that an expedition to the asteroid field for astronauts can happen. We plan to make a colony on the moon some day. Planning for a moon colony starts this year. We sign the Minsk II Accords. Deep Space Industries: Intensive investment is put into buying modes of production on Earth and hiring the finist German physicists an aerospace company can buy. The comany immediatly begins looking into making launching objects into orbit cheaper, as a result much thought is put into hydrogen-plasma fuels and magentic mass drivers, as well as re-entry into the atmosphere, and schematics are made for possible ships. To make money in the short-run the company begins producing engines and fuel for spaceplanes and airplanes. Plans are already made for the eventual headquarters that will be in orbit. SpaceX: SpaceX prepares for the Dragon V2, that will have a manned flight in 2016. The SpaceX CRS-7 is set to travel to the ISS to deliver cargo on the 15th June.
 * Sending nukes into space is against so many international laws that I would recommend a moderator cross that out.
 * Already on it. Also, your program is not signing the Minsk II Accords but your government. Oh, and to inform you, no leaving the Milky Way, or rebuilding the shuttles, seeing as the Buran program had backfired and shuttles only have LEO range. 
 * Errr.....the shuttles are already out of date. That is what space planes are for. 

Kazkosmos: KazKosmos begin lobbying the Kazakhstan government and also proposes a joint space program to the Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

RNG for their agreement (1-6 Decline. 7-10 Accept.)

'''Uzbekistan: 6. Declined. '''

'''Tajikistan: 1. Declined. '''

'''Kyrgyzstan: 5. Declined. '''

'''Turkmenistan: 1. Declined. '''

CSA: Let's send shit into space! We begin production of a better spacecraft. We call it Project Moose.

NASA (US): We continue research into the SLS and begin to lobby in Congress for increased funding. As a result, work continues on preparing other programs, such as the Orion MPCV, which is becoming a bigger priority, as the program shifts from telescopes to further space exploration. The shift from telescopes to actual exploration vehicles leads to the delay of the James Webb Space Telescope for a 2019 launch, and the program continues sign more contracts with other private corporations to allow for a reduction in spaceflight costs. Planning continues for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which is scheduled for a 2017 launch. In June, NASA begins work on a new set of nuclear thermal engines, and VASIMIR-type engines. The nuclear engines are based on historical research from the NERVA program and the Project Rover program as well. These programs are later seen as the basis for the new nuclear thermal program, as this begins to be applied to the Upper Stage of the SLS. Meanwhile, MESSENGER is sent into a collision course with Mercury, officially ending the mission. Data continues to be retrieved from the Curiosity Rover and the Cassini Space Probe, as they continue their exploration of their respective destinations: Mars and Saturn. The ISS continues maintenance as we send further supply missions to the station.

2015.5
Space News:  Earth News:  CNSA: Investment continues on the Long March rocket family, and lobbying continues on the Politburo. Meanwhile, the official test flights for the Long March 5 and 6 begin, as the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center is completed. The Shenzhou 11 mission is scheduled to launch early next year, along with the Tiangong-2 module for our space station, which is scheduled to lanch a week earlier. Around this time, the crew of the Shenzhou 11 is selected to be: Li Paoching, Xi Loiheng, and Weng Lazhin. The program begins progress on the Chang'e 4 mission and we begin to prepare for a launch around early 2016. Planning continues on the Jilin Satellite Launch Center, as it is expected to begin construction around 2019. Research continues into components required for future missions of the program.
 * The New Horizons probe makes its first flyby of Pluto. 
 * Roscosmos and the CNSA begin their joint cooperation programs, as agreed earlier in the year. 
 * The LISA Pathfinder probe launches from French Guinea. 
 * Heavy fighting continues against ISIL.
 * Another round of fighting begins in Eastern Ukraine as the Minsk II accords quickly break down, and heavy fighting begins in the region. 
 * Iran signs a nuclear agreement with the US, much to Saudi Arabia's dismay. 
 * The US and South Korea dissolve the Combined Forces Command.