The Magellan Project is a long term goal aimed at building a Hyperspace Catapault between the Milkyway Galaxy, & the 150,000+ lightyear distant Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
The project would involve multiple stages of development, aimed at practical tests of the catapault system.
Stage 1) Location & Establishment of a suitably distant colony within the Milkyway:
This will require thorough exploration of an area of the Milkyway which is sufficiently distant to properly test the technology. 1/10th of the distance to the LMC would be preferrable; 15,000LY from the Sphere of Civlization.
This part of space will need to be able to sustain the development of the project long term, so suitably habitable worlds, aswell as abundant resource systems will need to be first located in order to chose this location.
Stage 2) Construction & Testing of the Small-scale Catapault System (SCS):
This will involve the construction of two two way Hyperspace Accelerators; One in the core systems, & the other at the newly established systems over 10,000LY away.
These gates will require significant investment from both Faction Governments, aswell as corporations alike, with the addition of contract freight supply by members of the Pilots Federation.
Stage 3) Construction of the Large-scale Catapault System (LCS):
This will follow the successful operation of the SCS. After the SCS has demonstrated that all ships are capable of being almost instantaneously, & safely, transported over a distance greater then 10,000LY, the construction of a larger catapault in the core systems can begin.
This will involve both the construction of the core system side gate, aswell as the Gate Construction Vessel. This machine will be capable of traversing the dangerous one way trip to the LMC, & exiting hyperspace without the need for a gate on the otherside. This 'ship' will have the basic materials needed to construct a hyperspace 'anchor', aswell as an extremely long distance communications node.
This will allow for other necessary ships to traverse the distance, in aid of the construction of a full two-way return gate in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
So... What do all of you think?
I do believe that I may have heard of Frontier saying something about 'gates' being a no no? But I really don't think that this has to be set in stone. If we can make this a big long term community project, I can see it working towards 'opening up' at the very least the Milkyway Galaxy to more players.
As it is now, only a few of us (crazy) explorers are venturing out any further then 10,000LY. I think that having a 'Point B' in the galaxy to goto would make a difference for some people, even if it takes a few days to get there, atleast people would feel like they are going 'somewhere'. This would atleast for the meantime, give people somewhere to fly around between, with the eventual ability to instantly traverse the distance with the gates.
Something like this would be a long term goal. A year establishing the 'distance' colonies. Another year building the two gates, then another couple of years building the larger gates to the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Even if it would not be possible to 'populate' the LMC with stars (potentially 10billion) because of design limitations with the games engine, it could still be a big project establishing a new 'sector' of space.
The project would involve multiple stages of development, aimed at practical tests of the catapault system.
Stage 1) Location & Establishment of a suitably distant colony within the Milkyway:
This will require thorough exploration of an area of the Milkyway which is sufficiently distant to properly test the technology. 1/10th of the distance to the LMC would be preferrable; 15,000LY from the Sphere of Civlization.
This part of space will need to be able to sustain the development of the project long term, so suitably habitable worlds, aswell as abundant resource systems will need to be first located in order to chose this location.
Stage 2) Construction & Testing of the Small-scale Catapault System (SCS):
This will involve the construction of two two way Hyperspace Accelerators; One in the core systems, & the other at the newly established systems over 10,000LY away.
These gates will require significant investment from both Faction Governments, aswell as corporations alike, with the addition of contract freight supply by members of the Pilots Federation.
Stage 3) Construction of the Large-scale Catapault System (LCS):
This will follow the successful operation of the SCS. After the SCS has demonstrated that all ships are capable of being almost instantaneously, & safely, transported over a distance greater then 10,000LY, the construction of a larger catapault in the core systems can begin.
This will involve both the construction of the core system side gate, aswell as the Gate Construction Vessel. This machine will be capable of traversing the dangerous one way trip to the LMC, & exiting hyperspace without the need for a gate on the otherside. This 'ship' will have the basic materials needed to construct a hyperspace 'anchor', aswell as an extremely long distance communications node.
This will allow for other necessary ships to traverse the distance, in aid of the construction of a full two-way return gate in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
So... What do all of you think?
I do believe that I may have heard of Frontier saying something about 'gates' being a no no? But I really don't think that this has to be set in stone. If we can make this a big long term community project, I can see it working towards 'opening up' at the very least the Milkyway Galaxy to more players.
As it is now, only a few of us (crazy) explorers are venturing out any further then 10,000LY. I think that having a 'Point B' in the galaxy to goto would make a difference for some people, even if it takes a few days to get there, atleast people would feel like they are going 'somewhere'. This would atleast for the meantime, give people somewhere to fly around between, with the eventual ability to instantly traverse the distance with the gates.
Something like this would be a long term goal. A year establishing the 'distance' colonies. Another year building the two gates, then another couple of years building the larger gates to the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Even if it would not be possible to 'populate' the LMC with stars (potentially 10billion) because of design limitations with the games engine, it could still be a big project establishing a new 'sector' of space.
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