Tanaka Heavy Industries, a conglomerate of several large Asian industrial companies, stands among Earth's corporate titans. A leader in developing fusion reactors since the first days of the Asian Economic Bloc, Tanaka also constructs an enormous variety of products for planet-side consumption. But the primary focus of the company today is building propulsion and fuel systems for the space market. Their market share in the transportation industries, especially in advanced fusion space-planes, is one of the reasons the AEB has gained dominance in the League.
In recent years, however, Tanaka abandoned plans to extend their market beyond Earth orbit, partly because of the relative low demand for deep space ships, but mainly because of the tight hold Traeger Aerospace has on that segment. Tanaka executives believe Traeger uses unfair practices to maintain their dominance, and Tanaka has leaked stories to the media about Traeger pay-offs, sabotage and industrial spying.
Although Tanaka has their main headquarters on Kyuushu, one of Japan's southern islands, their construction facilities are located at the Tycho Shipyard in Earth's orbit. Most of their merchandise is shipped to Lunar Commercial station to be sold.
The Asian Digital Aggregate is based on mainland China. The ADA pioneered a process for micro-gravity crystal growth which propelled the organization to world dominance of the electronics industry. Today, the ADA continues to sell more electronic data processing, communication and entertainment systems than any other company in the United Earth League.
The ADA has a production facility on Lunar Commercial, where most of their merchandise can be purchased. The ADA also collaborates frequently with the UEL military and has a research facility on UEMS Unzen that specializes in electronic and digital countermeasures.
Founded in 2135, Mukhtar Biotech came to prominence by developing, with financial assistance from the UEL, a cure for the Pandemic Virus. Mukhtar is now the largest supplier of biotechnology for all UEL interests in space, with the largest micro-gravity research labs in the Solar System. The Mukhtar labs, located at the center of Lunar Commercial, specialize in pharmaceutical production, advanced tissue generation research, and in seeking new ways to counter the physiological effects of low gravity and micro-gravity.
In micro-gravity, a number of changes occur in the human body. A person's bones become less dense and lose calcium, making them more brittle. A loss of muscle mass, strength, and reflex-response occurs, as well as fluid imbalances, including head congestion. The heart becomes smaller and blood flow diminishes. In low-gravity environments such as Mars (with about one-third the gravity of Earth) similar problems exist, but to a lesser extent. People living under such conditions face considerable health risks when exposed to Earth gravity.
Mukhtar has invested considerable intellectual and financial resources into overcoming the long-known hazards of low gravity living, but without any great success to date. With the ever rising number of people leaving Earth, however, the potential profits in solving these problems continues to propel Mukhtar's quest.
Santos Materials Research Inc. is a company headquartered in Martian orbit. They have spent years developing aerogels for space-planes and certain components in spaceships. Currently, most of Santos' research is focused on developing new and better memory-alloys for repairing stations and spacecraft. To manufacture memory-alloys successfully requires a micro-gravity environment. Otherwise, the wide variances in the density of the component materials prevent attaining a uniform mixture.
Santos was one of the founding companies of the Mars Consortium. They enjoy a strong, positive reputation among professionals throughout the Solar System. An extremely high number of scientists and engineers from both Earth and Mars apply each year to work for Santos, even with the political pressure on the Consortium intensifying.
In the past, Santos has formed joint-ventures with other companies, including Traeger Aerospace and Kologorov-Meischt. Recently, however, Santos has backed away from cooperative deals with any companies outside of the Consortium. Though Santos gave no reason for this new position, many have speculated that the cause for the change is the recently initiated partnership between Santos and Parkhurst Manufacturing.
Parkhurst Manufacturing is the largest of the heavy industrial manufacturers in the Mars Consortium. They produce a variety of spaceship components at the Nugent Shipyard. Their merchandise can be purchased on Mars Commercial Station.
Top management at Parkhurst has had a high-turnover rate in recent decades as the company's Board of Directors has unsuccessfully sought a way to gain market share from Traeger Aerospace, by far the dominant player in the market. This policy of revolving door leadership has only added to the perception of Parkhurst's mediocrity.
Santos & Parkhurst is a cooperative formed two years ago from a limited partnership between Parkhurst Manufacturing and Santos Materials. The spin-off company produces such equipment as engines and spaceship systems. Their research and production is conducted at the Nugent Shipyard. S & P products can be found at Mars Commercial.
Because of past acclaim for the research and development efforts of Santos Materials, many people wonder about the lackluster performance of much of the S & P product line. Some critics have speculated that, because the management of Santos Materials did not want to work with Parkhurst but felt pressured to do so by the Consortium Board of Directors, they may be channeling the best design ideas away from S & P.
Mangala Technologies produces digital equipment for the Consortium. They have facilities on Mars Commercial, where most of their consumer and business products are made. Despite the high standards of Mangala's manufacturing process, however, products manufactured by the Asian Digital Aggregate continue to sell better.
Mangala also has research facilities at an undisclosed location on the surface of Mars, probably inside one of the higher mountains, where the lower gravity can help accelerate their tests. There, at what is called the Adleman Center, Mangala has been focusing on advanced computing technology. The tight-lipped corporate culture at Mangala keeps outsiders guessing about the exact nature of the company's research. It is easier to know what Mangala is not doing; in recent years, they have publicly steered away from quantum research.
These facts have raised suspicions among certain detractors of the Mars Consortium. They point to Mangala's secretive ways, and their unwillingness to share any research findings, as evidence the Consortium may be aiding Mangala in the unlawful use of Callisto artifacts in their studies. Others have speculated that what is behind Mangala's closed door policy is the Consortium's desire for a Martian company to create a product revolutionary enough to make the efforts of the Asian Digital Aggregate and other Earth companies obsolete.
O'Connor Research Laboratories was established in 2162 when Colleen O'Connor left Muktar Biotech with a number of her colleagues to form a pharmaceutical research firm on Mars. After promising research into xenovirology, O'Connor Labs was granted membership in the Mars Consortium in 2170. With this, O'Connor Labs became the youngest company in the Consortium. Soon after, Colleen was appointed to the Consortium Board of Directors. With Colleen's death in 2187, her seat on the Consortium Board went to her son, Patrick.
O'Connor Labs is the largest manufacturer of Pharmaceuticals in the Consortium. They have substantial production facilities on Mars Commercial, but some people allege O'Connor also has labs on Ulysses. The company vehemently denies these rumors.
O'Connor continues to publish results from their xenovirology research. With the discovery of the Callisto Artifacts thirty years ago, the company began working in conjunction with the Joint Research Team (JRT) at Callisto to isolate any and all alien viruses uncovered at the site. Though no alien strains have been discovered, O'Connor has developed a thorough protocol to cope with a potential outbreak. Both the JRT and the UEL military have incorporated much of O'Connor's containment methods into their daily practices.
Since its beginning, the Martian Mining Corps has strip-mined Mars and asteroids for every mineral and ore of value. Their operations now extend to Deimos, the Asteroid Belt, and beyond.
The MMC is one of the founding members of the Mars Consortium; in fact, the MMC is the oldest company in the Consortium. The company was started by the former OPEC nations who sponsored the so-called rogue colonies on Mars, most of them populated by people not affiliated with any of the three major economic blocs on Earth. Dozens of small mining operations, run by some of the poorest nations on Earth, combined forces in the MMC.
The MMC continued to recruit people largely from Third World countries without ties to the major economic blocs. Because of the poor conditions of these regions of Earth, the people there welcomed the chance to work as cheap labor for the MMC. The result has been a massive influx of people to Mars over the past century.
Over the last few decades, automation of mining operations has evolved to where robotic devices have now replaced a majority of the human mining crews. Some of the miners have been trained to operate and maintain the automatons, but most of the laborers have had to seek other employment. Fortunately, the Consortium has been able to absorb many of these displaced workers, primarily into service industry jobs.
The MMC has undergone other changes as well. Due to the population expansion on Mars, many of their mining operations on the planet have been shut down. But now the MMC supervises construction of underground communities on Mars. The MMC also has taken an active role in the terraforming of the planet, although in recent years the Consortium has held back these efforts for fear of Terrans overrunning the Martian communities. That fear may be unfounded, however; most Terrans don't want to live on a planet as miserable as Mars, despite what they have to tolerate on Earth.
Since the discoveries at Callisto, the MMC has been specializing in the mining of valerium, the compound needed to power all vortex gates. To this end, the MMC has established offices at both Io Mining and Europa Commercial stations.
Traeger Aerospace is the largest aerospace company in Sol. They produce an extensive line of products, including fighter hulls, capital ships, and even space stations. They have their own station and shipyard orbiting Ganymede.
Traeger's first major successes came with the company's design, manufacture and marketing of space-planes. For a long time, however, founder Donald Warren Traeger resisted venturing into any new areas of business. Even when his daughter Dr. Kelly Traeger developed a new and highly efficient fusion reactor system she had to look elsewhere for funding.
Ultimately, however, Kelly Traeger's design for the KT- Alpha MFCPS became the impetus for what business commentators of 2134 called "the merger of the century" between Traeger Aerospace and Haldeman Industries. Haldeman-Traeger Industries built stations, cruisers, and transports. In the late 2170's, the merged company won a UEL military contract to design and manufacture the first single fighter spacecraft.
Although the fighter - called the Razor - delighted pilots, the cost overruns on the project soured the marriage of Haldeman and Traeger. After losing nearly 6 billion credits, the two companies went their separate ways, reverting to their original corporate identities. Haldeman Industries now focuses on weapons and ship components, along with creating space stations.
But Traeger has stuck it out building space ships. Their first solo attempt at producing a single seat fighter, the Eclipse Class Gunboat, slowly became a favorite of such organizations as the Mars Consortium. With the post-Callisto boom in space travel, Traeger Aerospace has grown rapidly. They moved to their present location in 2181.
Haldeman Industries produces weapons and other ship components. The company is based on Oberon Commercial Station.
Haldeman Industries was founded in 2049 by Joseph Haldeman. As an engineer for NASA, Haldeman designed and developed the first orbital Earth colony in 2042. With his newly found fame, and valuable connections in the UNAE military, Haldeman became a major player in the aerospace business.
For decades, Haldeman Industries focused primarily on building space stations. The company became known for its quality and its constant innovation. In many ways, Haldeman drove the evolution of space station design and construction.
In the mid 2130's, Haldeman began shopping for a business partner to share the growing financial risk in the aerospace industry. Competition had heated up, especially with Tanaka Heavy Industries taking an interest in the construction of space stations. Finally, Haldeman Industries entered a merger with Traeger Aerospace.
Haldeman-Traeger Industries designed the first single seat space fighter. But fulfilling their contract with the UEL cost the corporation 5.8 billion credits over their production expenses. After that experience, James Haldeman, director of development, vowed the family company would never produce another space fighter.
The board of the company disagreed. Ultimately, James Haldeman resigned from Haldeman-Traeger Industries and resurrected Haldeman Industries.
The success of Traeger Aerospace's Eclipse Class Gunboat lured many other fledgling aerospace manufacturers into developing single seat spacecraft. One of the first companies to do so was the small European firm Cosmospatiaele. Though their expertise was limited at the time to the development of submersibles, their first space ship, the Bee Class Fighter, enjoyed considerable popularity.
But Cosmospatiaele has not been able to shrug off the sophomore jinx. They have not gotten a new design into production for over a decade. Currently, the company has just a few propulsion system items in production. Constant changes in the management of the space division have resulted in often contradictory goals for their future. It is rumored that, despite their promising start, Cosmospatiaele may pull out of the space industry for good.
Spurred by the success of Traeger's virgin jump into the space ship building business, Kolgorov-Meischt also went into spacecraft manufacturing with little prior experience. They made up for their lack with perseverance, however. In 2184, they produced the Vulture Class Shuttle, which was a runaway hit. From there they have had their stumbles (the Talon Class) as well as other triumphs (the Hyperion Class).
Attracted by the opportunity of operating independently of Earth and Mars, Kolgorov-Meischt moved all of their production facilities to Umbriel Commercial shortly after that station was complete in 2186. Although far from being the largest aerospace firm in Sol, Kolgorov-Meischt does produce the highest quality in the industry. Pilots who want superior performance propulsion systems generally chose K-M products. Kolgorov-Meischt is constantly courted by Earth and Mars and maintains sizable military contracts with both governments.
Wheltraum is a small company spun off of parent company Kolgorov-Meischt in 2196. Wheltraum has specialized in the design and production of high performance fuel systems. Like Kolgorov-Meischt, they are also based on Umbriel Commercial.
Belt Colonies Manufacturing (BCM) is a small company based on Belt Station. Although BCM has a roster of competent engineers, the company has grown very little since their establishment in 2192.
The trouble BCM has had expanding their business can be directly traced to the company's difficulty in attracting new talent. Few ambitious professionals want to live on Belt Station, much less raise a family there. Crime on Belt Station is higher than at any other station in Sol. Pirates and other outlaws come and go as they please.
Efforts by BCM employees aimed at improving this situation have been met with resistance from the governing forces on Belt Station. The prevailing assumption is the governor of Belt Station has been corrupted with kick-backs from pirate clans, which is why such activity can thrive around the station in the first place.
Cronus specializes in the mining of gaseous materials. The company is one of the few in Sol with all of their operations, including administration, located in space. Their headquarters is located on Titan Commercial Station, where they have ready access to Titan, the atmosphere of which provides them with abundant mining opportunities.
Working in an environment such as that of Titan - low gravity, low temperatures, no oxygen - is difficult enough. When that work involves extracting gases, many of them quite volatile, the task becomes more arduous, and more dangerous. Minuscule miscalculations or minor equipment malfunctions can trigger vast shifts in pressure capable of destroying expensive equipment and imploding the bodies of the workers. Development of safe, yet practical, mining methods continues to be a goal of Cronus.
The Io Corporation, as the name implies, is based on Io Mining Station. Like many companies in the Solar System, Io Corp is a mining company. But, unlike many others, they have succeeded at pulling a profit from the forbidding environment of Io.
The success of Io Corp can be contributed largely to what seem like archaic mining techniques. Io Corp relies minimally on automated technology, using humans almost exclusively to control machinery, and depending on a vast number of human laborers. Although this may seem less efficient, the fact that automatons fail almost hourly in the horrendous conditions on Io makes flesh and blood miners more reliable - and less expensive - in the long run.
Mining on Io is extremely unpleasant. Aside from volcanic eruptions, the surface of Io is dotted with lakes of molten sulfur. The atmosphere is composed mainly of sulfur dioxide. It is commonly believed that Io Corp ships in cheap labor from the most impoverished member blocs of the UEL.
The Peter Newton Agricultural Center (PNAC) was founded in 2191 with a grant from the United Earth League by botanist, engineer and inventor Peter Newton. The PNAC is currently based on Mimas Station where they have been developing new hydroponic techniques and researching other agricultural methods to make stations more self sufficient. The scientists at the PNAC have published papers exposing the deficiencies of the current station recycling technology. The ultimate goal for PNAC is to incorporate their research into new station designs.
Last year, the grant from the UEL expired, leaving the PNAC in search of new funding. Peter Newton and his associates have been pursuing a partnership with Traeger Aerospace after rumors of that company's plans for new station construction. At this time, however, Traeger has decided not to sponsor the PNAC's research. The hunt for funds will continue.