Antimatter Crisis

The Antimatter Crisis was a period of 11 years, beginning in 2509, during which antimatter became exceptionally scarce in human space. This resulted in most wormhole stations being severely under-supplied with antimatter, and thus unable to maintain the wormholes linking human star systems. This resulted in the The United Leagues of Earth being unable to maintain control of its outermost colony systems. As a result, the federal government of Earth voted to grant increased autonomy to the Outer Systems League in 2515, resulting in the effective independence of the star states of the Outer Systems.
The precise cause of the Antimatter Crisis is still a matter of debate. Many historians argue that Neo-Nationalist terror attacks on antimatter production facilities were the primary cause, while others hold that it was caused by governmental overreach and mismanagement of both wormhole stations and antimatter production. More recently, some physisicists have suggested that the power requirements for maintaining wormholes in local spacetime may have temporarily seen a dramatic increase for unknown reasons beginning in 2509.

Start Date
2509
End Date (Earth Space)
2520
End Date (Outer Systems)
~2530
Consequences
Effective independence of numerous star states from the united Leagues of Earth.
Widespread adoption of Stellar Autarky.