Worldbuild Summary | IndServ’s Short-Distance Stellar Support Vehicles
- Casey Hudson
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Hi. I’m Casey Hudson, and I’m worlbuilding a circular economy in space for my Drifting Amalgams universe. Here’s how I’m transforming worldbuilding questions and real science into a system of interstellar maintenance vehicles.
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Inspiration for Worldbuilding Economy
Writing economic systems in sci fi can be as simple as naming the money and saying that everyone in the system accepts it.
And this can be a reasonable choice if everyone in the narrative is under the same governance. But, my Drifting Amalgams universe has several autonomous governments, so I’m building out one of many fictional economies.
I’m starting with the basics: history and evolution.
Called the United Barpadai Nation, the fictional economy I’m working on now began as a smattering of trading partnerships amongst individuals that evolved to a highly functioning governance with a central bank and extraplanetary trade.
This history speaks to why the nation needed a cohesive economy in the first place and what purpose financial structures serve. Most importantly, it aligns with the free market values of the society since the central bank only exists to regulate, not to control.
One economy down, a dozen to go.
More Inspiration for Worldbuilding Economy
I’m worldbuilding economy for one of the societies in my Drifting Amalgams universe, and I’ve begun thinking about how people feel about work and corporations.
Though the United Barpadai Nation has a mixed economy, I’ve written the companies to sell anything people will buy, as long as there are no explicit laws against them doing so. Thus, I’ve moved this fictional economy more strongly into the capitalistic side of things.
So, yeah, corporations don’t care deeply about their employees’ wellbeing. But in the interest of not making this a free for all, I’m creating a government for them that outlaws practices causing direct physical or mental injury.
Knowing that indirect harm is difficult to define, I can create a list of shortcuts and loopholes these free market companies could exploit, and expand upon how that affects the morale of employees.
Not enough detail for a fully fictional economy, but great for writing character motivation.
Science behind a Fictional Space Tug
The European Space agency has recently begun the RISE initiative. Their hope is to lay the groundwork for a circular economy in space. But first they need to prove that they can
Match an orbiting satellite's speed and trajectory before docking,
Latch on to the ring that originally attached the satellite to its launcher, and
Change the satellite’s attitude and orbit to precisely maneuver it.
All, while the satellite keeps its own power, communications with Earth, and payload fully functional.
I love this idea for my Drifting Amalgams universe, so I’ve kept the concept mostly intact, but scaled it up so that space tugs, like the one for RISE, are commonplace. Oh, and, the interstellar economy already exists.
In this fictional free market an ambitious company can build a virtual monopoly refueling and refurbishing spacecraft.
Model of IndServ’s Short-Distance Stellar Support Vehicles
Within the Drifting Amalgams universe, the United Barpadai Nation’s business model is pretty simple. Businesses are known to offer anything and everything that can be imagined …on any planet. Frankly, entrepreneurs look to make money any way they can get away with.
There are billions of businesses that can be traced back to the United Barpadai Nation, but IndServ is, by far, the largest.
In the Drifting Amalgams universe, space stations and spacecraft are ubiquitous, so there’s plenty of business for IndServ’s Short-Distance Stellar Support Vehicles, used as interstellar delivery vehicles for resupply and refueling.
Until next time, keep creating.