ISDR

The ISDR, or International Satellite for Development and Research, is a system of manmade satellites orbitting the world consisting of thirteen terminals: Janus Terminal, Hephaestus, Minerva, Dionysus, Horus, Bastet, Apollo, Orcus, Ra, Artemis, Athena, Hera, and Hermes.

Public Agenda

While initially launched to serve scientific expeditions and excursions, over time as more terminals were added onto the ISDR people began to move in. Currently only three terminals are dedicated to scientific research, the remaining ten are used to simulate every day life back on land.

History

The ISDR was initially launched in 1964 meant to serve as an internationally shared foothold in space. Initially, the ISDR was much smaller, only being the size of one modern terminal. During the early days, the ISDR was only intended to house astronauts and scientists during space research and could safely hold up to 50 people at one time. As science evolved and space research progressed (and more significantly, more countries began incorporating space programs) the ISDR had to expand to accommodate new arrivals, leading to the first official "terminal", Artemis Terminal. As time continued, more terminals would be added to the ISDR to accommodate the ever growing (but still small) population on the station. In 2067, the original ISDR terminal fell out of orbit and returned to Earth's atmosphere, landing in the ocean. This event killed the 46 people who were in the terminal at the time, and following the tragedy many of the people living on the ISDR returned home. Three terminals remained in orbit with a total of 12 residents, less than 5% of the maximum capacity of the ISDR at the time. The population would be ever changing, but never reach more than 20 people at once. It wasn't until 2140 when Lagunov Robotics launched a new, larger terminal that people began to return to the ISDR. The new terminal, named Janus Terminal, had a maximum population of 1,500 people, far more than the previous terminals which held up to 100. Those few living on the other terminals would move into Janus, and the remaining three terminals were returned to to Earth. With a highly reliable company like Lagunov Robotics behind the current structural state of ISDR, many nations space programs relaunched space missions using the Janus Terminal as the base of operations, just as they had initially. As more people went to work on the ISDR Lagunov Robotics would launch more terminals with higher maximum capacities to accommodate. While the ISDR experiences its resurgence, for-pleasure space travel was becoming more commonplace. Up until that point for pleasure space travel still required rigorous training and was exclusively for the ultra rich, but during the turn of the 23rd century for-pleasure space travel became accessible to the middleclass. With this new enterprise, Lagunov Robotics launched the first residential terminal, Dionysus Terminal. Unlike the previous three terminals Dionysus wasn't intended for scientific use, rather this terminal was made to replicate life on Earth but in space. This terminal was complete with artificial parks, hotels, restaurants, shops, resorts, and so on, and it boasted a maximum capacity of 20,000 people. The launch of the Dionysus terminal marked the beginning of the ISDR's shift from scientific to residential. The subsequent terminals following Dionysus launched with the intention of further bolstering the ISDR's new role as a community and vacation spot, with each new residential terminal being fully staffed by employees living on the ISDR families would begin to develop. While the world shifted their scientific focus towards deep space research and exploration, the ISDR remained as a free colony for people rather than scientists.

Demography and Population

The ISDR has a population of about 200,000 people. The ten main terminals hold about 20,000 people each, and the three initial terminals hold a combined 6,500.