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In the year 2029, China used a high thrust, high impulse ion engine to land the first humans on Mars, shocking the world.

Immediately, the other nations took a renewed interest in space exploration, beginning the so-called Second Space Race.

With journeys across the solar system no longer taking years, but mere weeks and months to complete, it became possible to visit, colonize, and exploit the rich resources of distant planets, moons, and asteroids.

As nations began to establish bases on the Moon, Mars, and in the Belt, treaties banning weapons in space were forgotten as corporate conglomerates and geopolitical rivals began arming their spacecraft, ostensibly against 'micrometeorites'.

While tensions between various nations, space-agencies, and corporations never spilled over into open warfare on Earth, proxy wars and small skirmishes were common in space as humans expanded across the inner and outer system.

The United States Space Force, previously the smallest branch of the US military, quickly began designing ships, satellites, and stations to establish a firm United States presence on the 'new frontier', eventually spearheading the first FTL jump in late 2077.

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Factions Included:

[USSF] - United States Space Force - 6th branch of the American military responsible for space warfare.
[UAA] - United Aerospace Alliance - Private corporation that manufactures civilian space infrastructure, outgrowth of the old United Launch Alliance.