The Seeds Of Light: Humanity’s Leap Beyond the Stars

• 2080 experimental ship stellar explorer reaches 0.01c soon adopeted for new spaceships
• 2100 0.01c+ is the common speed for spaceships but stays for more than 200 years the practical standard, “stagnation of speed”
• 2290 before the ITT-buffer technology the speed stayed around 0.01c+ < 0.02c the invention of ITT-buffer technology marked the beginning of “The Seeds Of Light” ~2300-2400
• Over the next decade, ITT-buffering improves dramatically, allowing speeds to increase from 0.03c to 0.05c, then to 0.1c within another five years. Researchers discover that ITT drives require less energy for jumps when aligned with gravitational fields, avoid them, leading to optimized routes through the solar system.
• 2301 0.1c, “Horizon Vanguard” an experimental chv vessel reaches 0.1c flawlessly
• 2305 nova arcis founded, to be the key anchor point for the further exploration of the Oort-Cloud and beyond.
• 2305 0.1c+, and beyond are practical, each new ship can achieve higher speeds, overcoming the “stagnation of speed” since ~2100
• 2315-2355 the constant speed revolution continues, but is not without social and political backlashes, as newer ships fly with higher speeds, compared to older ones. Protest, strikes are from down below Earth to the outer planets overshadowing the constant improvements in technology. Hope-movements contradict the common sense, though. “Born for future” vs “I want the old ways”, “stay where you are” - mentalities.
• 2331 (2331-2340) >0.5c+ test flight (CHV for Jade Horizon Energy) Cinetic Velocity around 0.5c gets already implemented on smaller ships.
• 2350 (2330-2365) start and main construction phase of the Oort-Cloud-Mainstation, nova Arcis twin-station.
• 2356 0.3c reached - now standard speed for the solar-plane
• 2369 0.3 to 0.5c established for new spaceships / experimental before
• 2362-2370 0.99c, Lightbridge Prototype construction and tests starts
• 2369 the Lightbridge Prototype reaches 0.99c in a short test-flight, but almost crashed and survived with minimal life-support for the crew.
• 2372 construction of sub-FLT-colony ships finished
• 2372-2374 From Earth to the Asteroid-Belt critic arises in social circles and through out the media, sub-FLT-colony ships would be a waste of resources. Despites these protest-movements the settlers prepare to leave. The far out solar-plane has enough own resources.
• 2375, 2378 and 2381: Three sub-FLT colony-ships (Amara Homework, Varna Homestead, Elara Homeland) leave OORT-Mainstation for a ~15 years travel to colonize Proxima B.
• 2376 Dr. Elara Kovacycy solves the dilation paradox, enabling safe FTL travel.
• 2377 Dr. Elara Kovacycy is awarded the Nobel Varna Prize in Physics for her work on the dilation paradox.
• 2389 first FLT test flight to Proxima started
• 2390 with the arrival of the first colony ship the colony on Proxima B is founded
• 2390 1.03c for the “Chop Hop Voyager” during her flight to Proxima Centauri
• 2398 “Greetings from Proxima” - the crew was ‘Geen Grissom’, ‘Paula Chaffee’, ‘Armster Neil’ and ‘Nova Young’ on broad of the Chop Hop Voyager, a CHV-Vessel, returns to Nova Arcis from Proxima Centauri. Originally they left from OORT-Mainstation.

The decades leading up to 2290 were, in the annals of interstellar ambition, a period often whispered about as the “stagnation of speed” [e.g., 109]. For nearly two centuries (2100-2300), while humanity had ventured beyond Earth and established fledgling colonies across the solar system [e.g., 12, 13, 27], the tantalising dream of reaching other stars remained stubbornly out of reach. Speeds had incrementally improved, reaching less than 0.025c by the end of this era [e.g., 109], a far cry from the near-instantaneous travel the human spirit craved. The limitations of relativity cast a long shadow, with the severe time dilation at higher velocities acting as an almost insurmountable barrier. Many began to question if humanity was truly destined to remain tethered to its solar system. Then, around 2290, a spark ignited. The invention of ITT-buffering technology marked the first flicker of what would become the “Seeds Of Light”. Suddenly, the limitations of 0.1c felt less like a ceiling and more like a stepping stone. Speeds began to climb with newfound vigour. Within a decade, 0.5c was achieved, opening up the outer solar system for more rapid exploration and resource acquisition. This acceleration alone began to challenge the narrative of stagnation, breathing new life into the dreams of interstellar voyaging. It has to be mentioned, that 0.3c was established as the standard speed within the suns’ solar-plane. At the heart of this revolution stood Dr. Elara Kovacycy, a physicist of Croat-Slavic European heritage. While others grappled with incremental improvements to existing ITT drives, Kovacycy focused on the fundamental paradox that plagued faster-than-light travel: time dilation. In 2376, after years of tireless theoretical work, she achieved a breakthrough. Redefining the theoretical Einstein-Epstein-Bridge as the Einstein-Varma-Drag, she cracked the code, finding a way to synchronise ship time with external observers, effectively solving the dilation paradox. The year 2377 saw her justly awarded the Nobel Varna Prize in Physics for her monumental work. Kovacycy’s work laid the foundation for the seemingly impossible. Building upon the understanding of spacetime manipulation gained through ITT-buffering and research into “quantum shearing”, scientists developed ITT-FTL drives. The culmination of this intense period of innovation arrived around 2390. The Chop Hop Vanguard, a vessel built for this singular purpose, embarked on humanity’s first faster-than-light test flight to Proxima Centauri. Reaching a speed of 1.03c, the ship arrived at humanity’s nearest stellar neighbour in a subjective time of just under four years, a journey that would have taken millennia at low sub-light speeds. The success of the Chop Hop Vanguard ignited a firestorm of hope and ambition. The period following this breakthrough saw humanity on the cusp of rapid expansion. The sources indicate that within decades, stable FTL technology evolved, achieving speeds of 4-5c. This dramatically reduced travel times to nearby star systems, making interstellar colonisation a tangible reality. The first interstellar colony was established relatively swiftly, marking a definitive end to humanity’s confinement within the solar system. However, this era of dramatic technological advancement was not without its social and political struggles. The sources highlight several key tensions:

• Earth’s Shifting Influence: As interstellar colonies began to flourish, Earth’s central authority waned. This led to political friction as newly independent systems developed their own identities and interests.
• Economic Disruption: The advent of FTL travel inevitably disrupted existing economic models. Colonies further out might have gained strategic importance, leading to a reversal of fortunes for closer settlements. New industries related to FTL travel boomed, while older ones faced decline, causing social unrest and job displacement.
• Cultural Fragmentation: While faster travel facilitated cultural exchange, it also presented the risk of cultural homogenisation, with unique local identities potentially being diluted. The vast distances between nascent interstellar communities naturally led to cultural divergence.
• Existential Anxiety: The realisation of the sheer scale of the galaxy and the potential for encountering alien life raised profound philosophical and existential questions about humanity’s place in the cosmos.
• “World War X”: Interestingly, the sources mention “World War X (2380–2390)” as an interplanetary quiz stream lasting ten years. While seemingly innocuous, its description as symbolising humanity’s intellectual unity amidst technological advancements suggests a possible undercurrent of social cohesion being sought during a period of rapid change and potential division. The fact that the Overall Communication Network (OCN), the rebranded StellarLink, used this event to promote its services indicates the importance of communication and connection during this era of expansion. The period of “The Seeds Of Light” was thus a dynamic and transformative era. The contrast with the preceding “stagnation of speed” could not have been starker. Driven by the brilliance of individuals like Elara Kovacycy and the relentless human desire to explore, the light barrier was shattered. While this breakthrough unleashed the potential for rapid interstellar expansion, it also sowed the seeds of new social and political complexities that humanity would grapple with as it ventured further into the vastness of space.