Logo by Qohen Leth
LAUNCHING JUNE 9TH & 10th 3306
Video by Eagle131
- Introduction
- What is the DSSA?
- The First Flotilla
- How can you help?
- Mapping the Transgalactic Tritium Highway
- Which DSSA Carriers are taking part in the Aphelion Expedition?
- Where are we going?
- Expedition Pacing
- Large Scale Tritium Prospecting & Mining in the Galactic Core
- Why just a 3-week window to conclude this expedition?
- Expedition Overview Map
Post 2 : Fleet Schedule, Waypoints, and Route Maps
- Fleet Schedule
- Waypoints
- Route Maps
Post 3: Sign-Up Link, Fleet Roles, Maintaining the Array
- Sign Up
- Fleet Roster
- Recommended Ships & Equipment to store aboard DSSA Carriers
- How can I keep in touch with what’s going on?
- Mode of Play
- Links to associated DSSA expeditionary events
- Future content & keeping the Array functional
Introduction
Commanders,
June 9th 3306 will see a new era of deep space exploration and human expansion begin. The introduction of commercially available capital class starships will push the borders to far off frontiers. Technological advances in frame shift drives and the deployment of deep space outposts like the Explorers Anchorage, as well as innovative new fuel sources, have given us the freedom to leave behind the dependence on old regimes and have provided us with the means to seek out distant shores, untapped resources, and the allure of a fresh start.
And now, with capital class starships, we finally have the necessary hardware and the means to set up permanent outposts on a colonial scale.
Just like our ancient forebears, when they left the old world for the new one back in the 17th and 18th centuries on old Earth — and later the waves of generation ships that took pioneers to the stars — this next wave of expansion lies in your hands. A new beginning awaits all those willing to seize the opportunity and play a part in writing the next chapter of humanity's journey.
With over one hundred Drake-Class carriers poised to begin their expeditions to those distant shores, the DSSA Initiative is laying the earliest foundations for this endeavour.
The journeys these behemoths undertake will not be easy, despite all the advancements in technology. It will take monumental efforts to seed each galactic region with the infrastructure required to lay foundations for the first early outposts that could be destined to follow. Future events like Distant Worlds 3 will be utilised to help with some of those tasks that lay ahead, but the first stage begins now, with the launching of the first DSSA Carriers - these “Beacons in the profound night” - as the DSSA founder, Qohen Leth, aptly stated.
What is the DSSA?
The Deep Space Support Array is an initiative that was conceived by Qohen Leth and proposed to the FleetComm and Distant Worlds team in September 3305. Aimed at offering explorers and expeditionary events the use of their facilities while out in the depths, the initiative has captured the imagination of many commanders and is evolving into a long-term project, designed to utilize Carrier-class starships in an innovative way that may lead to the eventual establishment of permanent industry and tourism-based ‘microbubbles’.
The long-term ambition and scope lays way beyond these initial first steps, and if proved feasible, it will lay foundations for many more emergent gameplay opportunities to come.
For more in depth information about the DSSA, please visit Qohen’s post here: Link
The First Flotilla
This will be the first ever multi-carrier-based expedition to leave the bubble and it offers a golden opportunity for commanders across the old worlds to come along on this grand adventure and be a part of history in the making.
- The DSSA is calling upon fuel haulers, prospectors, and miners to join the expedition and help lay a path to the most distant regions.
The main emphasis for this expedition is logistics, with the primary goal being fuel mining operations upon reaching the galactic core, and the secondary goal being to prospect for Tritium-rich star systems close to the designated waypoint stopover locations.
Additionally, this will be a space-based expedition with no official planet-side basecamps. Carriers themselves will be the basecamps to use, however players are welcome to organise their own surface meetups during the trip, if time permits.
How can you help?
- If you can spare a T-9 or large hauler laden with Tritium fuel, or have mining vessels at hand, and would like to take part, please be at BD-22 3573 on the day the content is released (June 9th), and dock aboard one of the DSSA Carriers stationed there.
- You can also help by buying Tritium from bubble-based refineries and selling it to one of those DSSA Carriers in that system.
- Remember to check the name of the carrier owner before docking and selling your fuel to them - to avoid selling to non-DSSA Carriers in the system. DSSA Carrier owners taking part in this expedition are listed below.
- You can also join the expedition as a miner, and dock your mining ships aboard any of the carriers before departure, and help mine for fuel during the journey itself.
- The Flotilla is scheduled to launch once the fuelling operation is complete. This will be a casual launch event with no specific time of day set, this is due to the nature of fuelling ops - which are dependent on the number of people taking part and also on the time zones participating commanders are in. Each individual Carrier will launch when its ready, so please be at BD-22 3573 on content release day, and be aboard a Carrier in good time if you're intending to come along.
Mapping the Transgalactic Tritium Highway
Back in 3302 the first Distant Worlds fleet scouted out the Jumponium highway across the galaxy for the GMP. And likewise, one of the peripheral goals for the Aphelion Expedition will be to scout for Tritium-rich systems along the route - marking out the first Transgalactic Tritium Highway as we go.
There will be numerous waypoints visited during this journey, and it is at these locations where commanders will be able to spend some time looking for Tritium Highway POIs. Stopovers at waypoints will last between 1 and 2 hours – enough time to search the surrounding area for candidate systems.
Tri2 and Tri3 Scouting;
Of particular interest will be ring systems containing double or triple overlapping Tritium hotspots (akin to the LTD hotspot in Borann). If you find any such locations during this journey, please be sure to post them to the Galactic Mapping Project: Here.
Which DSSA Carriers are taking part in the Aphelion Expedition?
Carrier Insignia | Name | Commander | Assigned Region (& GMP Designation) | Travel Distance |
| DSSA Sleeper Service The DSSA flagship and the projects administrative hub, assigned to the Galactic Centre. | Qohen Leth | The Galactic Centre (Northeastern Galactic Bar) | 30,000 LYs |
| DSSA Distant Worlds 'Endeavour’ The Distant Worlds flagship will be assigned to Beagle Point as a permanent monument dedicated to all commanders who take part in expeditionary events to the far galactic rim, past, present and future. | Kamzel | The Abyss (The Solitude Void) | 65,000 LYs |
| DSSA Stellar Oasis A light in the darkness, the DSSA Stellar Oasis is assigned to assist explorers willing to adventure to the far reaches of the Mare Somnia sector. | alerok_147 | Mare Somnia (Viatori Patuit) | 51,000 LYs |
| DSSA Callisto Deploying to the northern half of Arcadian Stream with a secondary mission to investigate reports of an unusually high number of water worlds and earth-like worlds in the local area. | Gnauty | Arcadian Stream (Eurus) | 40,000 LYs |
| DSSA Tartarus Assigned to orbit a black hole - a rarity in the Abyss. Orbiting at only 2.5 Ls from its star is a Class V Gas Giant named Kronos - named after the Titan that is imprisoned in Tartarus. | nouspiro | The Abyss (The Abyss) | 46,000 LYs |
| DSSA King's Pass DSSA King's Pass is assigned to orbit the 5th planet in the system, a 1.00G landable body perfect for expeditionary meet-ups and quick rest stops alike. The system is also home to triplet Earthlikes: Amorigon, New Aramith, and Shinzo, respectively from the star. | King_INF3RN0 | The Norma Expanse (Cirinus Transit) | 17,000 LYs |
| DSSA Sésame Assigned to the Kingfisher Nebula - a strikingly bright blue planetary nebulae illuminated by a billion stars within the Sidereal Wall. All needed materials for FSD injection can be collected in this 'Jumponium-Green' system. | Guesswhat92 | The Norma Expanse (The Sidereal Wall) | 14,500 LYs |
| DSSA Aristarchos This Carrier will launch together with the Flotilla, but will depart the fleet at Antares, and head 'southeast' to the far reaches of the Outer Arm. | Holint | Xibalba (The Perseus Fade) | 25,500 LYs |
| Colonia Carrier ‘Challenger’ Support vessel. This Carrier will launch from Colonia and will rendezvous with the flotilla at the Explorer’s Anchorage to help with refuelling operations. | Jon Burnage | The Galactic Centre (Central Galactic Bar) | 11,000 LYs |
| Mercy of Angel Support vessel. This Carrier will operate as a transport vessel - bringing commanders home from the Aphelion regions to the Bubble once the expedition concludes. | Camel Number 1 | The Abyss (Galactic Aphelion) | 65,000 LYs |
| Zero Dawn Support vessel. This Carrier will operate as a transport vessel - bringing commanders home from the Aphelion regions to Colonia once the expedition concludes. | GranolaGuy | The Abyss (Galactic Aphelion) | 65,000 LYs |
Where are we going?
The flotilla will be heading to the Explorer’s Anchorage near Sgr A* in the galactic core.
Once there, mining teams from the Colonia carrier ‘Challenger’, commanded by Jon Burnage, will be on hand to help refuel the DSSA Carriers in readiness for their journeys to the regions beyond the core. After the refueling operation, the flotilla will begin a 5,000 LY climb up to the Sleepers Solace waypoint (the final destination of the DSSA flagship - Sleeper Service).
The Aphelion Expedition (as registered on EDSM) will officially end at Sleepers Solace as the remaining fleet will split into two, and effectively two separate journeys will begin thereafter; one group will head to the Abyss (DSSA Distant Worlds ‘Endeavour’ & DSSA Tartarus), and the other group will head into the eastern 4th Quadrant (DSSA Callisto & DSSA Stellar Oasis).
Commanders accompanying the journey to this point will need to decide which carrier group they wish to support on their way to their destinations. Commanders are of course free to split their time between carrier journeys if they wish to, and if it's logistically viable for them to. Once Carriers reach their final designated systems, prospectors and miners are invited to help refuel them once more, as one of the DSSA goals is to set up deep space Tritium fuel depots, and in lieu of surface structures, these Carriers will act as Tritium storage outposts in the interim.
Large Scale Tritium Prospecting & Mining in the Galactic Core
Upon arriving at the Explorer's Anchorage, at least six DSSA Carriers will require refuelling. To help with this, the Colonia Carrier Challenger will be on hand to help coordinate the fuel extraction and transfer process. A dedicated #dssa-logistics channel will be available on FleetComm discord for everyone who wants to help out, and this will be overseen by CMDR Jon Burnage.
Expedition Pacing
- It is estimated to take no more than three or four days to reach the Explorer’s Anchorage - whereupon the second refueling phase will begin.
- The second phase of the journey should take no more than a further 10 days to complete.
On this expedition we will use a google-sheet that everyone has access to, and that will give you a rough timetable of jump schedules, Carrier status, jump delays, WP departure times, and the exact location of each Carrier in the fleet.
The pacing for Carriers will be set at around 5,000 to 8,000 LYs per day - depending on each individual Carrier Commanders available time commitment. As such participants with limited gametime are highly encouraged to dock aboard one of the Carriers before launch and stay aboard until we reach the major designated waypoints.
Waypoint stopovers will last around 1 to 2 hours and will give players a chance to undock and conduct some localised exploration and Tritium prospecting during fuel transfer operations and Carrier Commander rest-breaks. Time spent at intermediate jump locations between designated waypoints will last approx. 20 minutes (the time it takes a Carrier to prep for its next jump).
Commanders with more gametime to commit are of course free to travel the route at their own pace in their own ships if they prefer.
Why such a short time period to complete this expedition?
The Aphelion expedition is just one of many different DSSA expeditions setting out this summer. Its important that other events are supported too, and we encourage those taking part in the Aphelion event to also help out with other DSSA launch events that are planned for the coming weeks. This is why we expect to conclude this particular journey and deployment within two or three weeks of departure, so players have time to hook up with other Carrier-based events on the horizon. See the links at the end of post #3 for details on upcoming DSSA events.
To help transport Aphelion participants back in time to join up with those subsequent DSSA expeditions, the Carrier ‘Mercy of Angel’ commanded by Camel Number 1, has volunteered to be on hand to ferry players home from the far reaches once the last Aphelion Carrier has been deployed.
Expedition Overview
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