Earth Expansion Vessel Program

The Earth Expansion Vessel program (or EEVP) was a United Nations (and subsequently Union of Sol) program for the development and the deployment of several EEV-Line Subluminal interplanetary spaceships. The EEVP ran alongside the Interstellar Exploration Program that directed the design and development of the first interstellar explorer vessels of the United Nations and the Union of Sol.

History
Spatial warp physics publishment of 2065.

United Nations expansion over the Sol System.

Establishment of the Union of Sol.

EEV-Alpha
Almost immediately after the publishment of the Spatial Warp research in 2065, the United Nations realised that whoever would construct a ship with this technology first would definitely win the then-ongoing space race. The United Nations Security Counsil secured the Spatial Warp prototypes and began kitbashing them to existing lunar cargo ferries. This led to the creation of the EEV-Alpha class and the UNNX-Alpha-1, the first prototype ship in 2071. The Alpha class helped the United Nations to gain further control over the outer Sol System, as sending supplies and cargo now took mere days or weeks instead of months or years. Before the United Nations' rivals could replicate the spatial warp technology, the United Nations had become the untwisted dominant force in the outer system. In 2075, 2 more ships of the Alpha class were constructed: The Alpha-2 and Alpha-3. Both vessels were deployed in the colonisation of the moons of Jupiter, while Alpha-1 was recalled to help with the colonisation of Mars. The Alpha class was eventually retired by the United Nations in 2085 in favor of the Delta and Epsilon classes. The frame of the Alpha class was eventually repurposed for the Tycho class drone

The Alpha class had a total lenght of 40 meters, a width of 32 meters, and a height of 15 meters (excluding the variable communications dish). The class had 3 distinct modules. On the top a crew module that could house 16-22 astronauts. This crew module could also be used as additional cargo space. In the middle of the vessels was a cargo module with a deployment bay. This allowed for the easy deployment or retrieval of cargo. The back end held a nuclear reactor that powered the rail-ion engines and the dual spatial warp rings.

The highest achieved speed of the Alpha class was 2791km/s, or about 1% the speed of light. This was achieved in 2085 with the to-be decommisioned Alpha-3. This feat made the Alpha-3 the then fastest space craft that Humanity had ever deployed. This feat destroyed Alpha-3 when its warp rings started to burn out, ripping the ship apart due to the inconsistent warp field. The Alpha class' cruising speed was much lower however, at 300km/s. This cruising speed means that an Alpha-class vessel could fly from Earth orbit to Lunar orbit in 21 minutes instead of the usual 3 days.

EEV-Beta
While the Alpha-class was an enormous breakthrough, the floodgates were only just opening. From the very beginning, the United Nations were investigating the possibility of creating a larger cargo vessel propelled with the spatial warp technology to further advance humanities colonies in the Sol system, and to ship more product back to Earth in a single trip. This led to the creation of the EEV-Beta class. The main feature of the Beta class was its capability to carry two EMSC-8 containers. This allowed the Beta class to carry more cargo than the Alpha class, and this cargo could be more modular than what was available with the Alpha class.

The Beta class had rougly the same dimensions as the Alpha class. The notable difference was the increased lenght: 59 meters.

The Beta class was also much slower and slightly more fuel-consuming than the Alpha class. This was due to the greater required warp field. The cruising speed of the Beta class was around 120km/s.

EEV-Gamma
The EEV Gamma-class was the first major improvement over the Alpha and Beta classes. The field data that the Alpha and Beta classes had provided allowed for a major improvement in the spatial warp technology. This technological improvement was combined with a nuclear fusion power core instead of a nuclear fission power core.

The Gamma class was mostly a testbed to improve the spatial warp technology. While multiple prototypes were constructed and multiple speed records were broken thanks to the Gamma class, it never saw much deployment in the Sol system.

The Gamma class had a more larger warp ring than earlier ships, allowing for the creation of greater warp fields. This allowed the Gamma class to eventually break the speed of light in 2082, with a recorded warp speed of 342.000km/s, or about 114% the speed of light. While this speed was only achieved for a few moments, it shattered previously held beliefs about the laws of physics. It was also a huge leap forward for the development of the Segan class interstellar explorer, as it proved that the required speeds for interstellar travel could be achieved.

The Gamma class was relatively compact. The class had a lenght of 39 meters, a width of 30 meters, and a height of 30 meters. The class had 4 container rails, on which EMSC-8 containers could be attached. In practice, this was almost never done.

EEV-Delta
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EEV-Epsilon
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Segan Class
involvement with the Segan class

Achievements
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