Dawn Ring
At this moment, the ship is about 800,000 kilometers from the Earth-Moon system—twice the distance from Earth to the Moon. Looking through the panoramic window, you can clearly see the blue Earth and the orbiting gray Moon now. Looking closely, you can see a fine line circling the Earth's equator, especially at the twilight zone, where it appears like a delicate glowing ribbon suspended in the shadow.
That's the Dawn Ring.
With the fleet heading toward Earth, the planet's shape got bigger and clearer with each passing moment. As the ship flew beyond the Moon's orbit, the Dawn Ring was clearly visible, even to the naked eye. From here, the Dawn Ring appears so thin and fragile that it seems like you could break it with your hand. Against the backdrop of the Dawn Ring, the blue Earth looks particularly fragile, like a delicate glass ball wrapped in a thin metal wire—truly resembling a delicate, fragile work of art.
This colossal ring is an incredible feat of engineering, embodying thousands of years of human history in space exploration; its presence is a living testament to human achievements in space architecture.
The Dawn Ring is a giant loop sitting about 10,000 kilometers above the Earth, and it's about 100,000 kilometers long. The story of the Dawn Ring can be traced back almost to when humans first left the confines of Earth to explore space. Records show that the Dawn Ring was built in 2448, which makes it twenty-five centuries old now. Back then, humans hadn't even figured out warp travel yet, and they were still six centuries away from discovering space resonance.
Yet, the early forms of the Dawn Ring date back to the 20th century. At that time, humans were still figuring out controlled nuclear fusion and building some pretty basic space stations in synchronous orbit. Looking back, those stations seem hilarious—like random tin cans dumped in space. Still, in their time, those space stations represented the sign that humans could live in space for a prolonged period. From the late 20th century through the 24th century, improvements in materials and controlled nuclear fusion technology led to the construction of massive and sophisticated space stations.
During this time, humans set up a base on the Moon, landed on Mars, built space elevators, and even assembled a long-distance space research ship in orbit, making round trips between Earth and Mars.
At the start of the 22nd century, humans hit the asteroid belt for mining. They brought resources back to a space smelting factory in orbit around Earth, ramping up production efficiency.
In the year 2224, humanity built the first experimental high-speed space elevator on Borneo, using graphene as its main structural material. It had a 100-ton capacity, but it was a big milestone. With the Borneo space elevator, humans moved tons of stuff from the ground to space, showing that space elevators could work, giving them valuable experience for more large-scale constructions down the line. On top of that, with the supplies sent by the Borneo space elevator, engineers set up the first genuine "space shipyard" at the elevator's counterweight.
In the year 2229, humans had built the first spaceship capable of accommodating 100 passengers in space. It wasn't until the year 2275 that the Borneo space elevator was destroyed in an accident. Today, the base is a heritage site, and the shipyard on its counterweight has been relocated close to the City of Dawn as a memorial. (Remark: Two years later, scientists started designing the latest type of space elevator—the stationary space elevator. The Borneo space elevator is considered a high-speed mobile elevator with a relatively low operational cost.)
In the year 2250, major Earth-based energy firms kicked off efforts to collect hydrogen and methane from Jupiter and Neptune.
In 2310, the Earth government began constructing an orbital industrial district in Earth orbit. Located approximately 10,000 kilometers from Earth, this industrial district directly accepted resources from the asteroid belt and outer planetary zone and conducted smelting and manufacturing on-site, greatly accelerating the development of Earth's space industry. This industrial district was connected to the existing factories and space stations in near-Earth orbit at the time, forming an integrated community and laying the foundation of the Dawn Ring.
In 2340, a new space elevator that could haul 500 tons was built. It was the result of a hundred years of tech and material progress. It was four times longer than the Borneo space elevator and reached an incredible height of 80,000 kilometers.
In 2344, the first true large-scale spaceport was completed at the counterweight end, enabling bulk resource loading and transportation and becoming an important node for material exchange between the ground and space.
In 2366, the first permanent space colony station began construction in synchronous orbit, designed to house 3,000 people working and living there.
In the following century, with more space elevators built, humanity started a large-scale Solar System exploration. During this period, mining in the asteroid belt and gas planet development really took off. Humans set up long-term bases on the Moon and built a large outpost space station in orbit around Mars. Ships of all kinds were zipping around the Solar System while space cities were sprouting up, showing a bustling prosperity.
In 2440, the Earth government revealed plans to construct a space city at the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange Node, aiming to fit 100,000 people. It became the first cosmic wonder built by humans, officially finished after three decades of construction.
By the mid-25th century, there were over 2 million people working in space, including 400,000 of them who had made space communities their long-term homes.
In 2448, the Earth government announced the Dawn Ring Orbit Program.
The program was to integrate all the space factories and ports already in Earth's orbit. In addition, the Earth government decided to shift most of the heavy and space industries to the Dawn Ring to help reduce pollution on Earth.
The program had widespread public support, and as construction went on, more enterprises and capital got involved, leading to the main structure of the Dawn Ring taking shape over fifty years. In the following centuries, the construction of the Dawn Ring continued on and off, primarily used for industry, with many scientists and engineers residing there, so no large residential communities were formed.
In 3024, the Dawn Ring had a significant expansion that took roughly 37 years to complete. After the expansion finished, the City of Dawn came to life, accommodating 3.2 million Earth immigrants, mostly families of asteroid and outer planet workers, plus some who chose not to live on Earth. The Earth government initially expected a growing number of people working in space as Solar System development ramped up, with the City of Dawn acting as a long-term base for space projects. Therefore, the plan was for the City of Dawn to keep expanding, attracting immigrants, and ultimately serving as the core hub and base connecting Earth, the asteroid belt, outer planets, the Moon, and Mars!
For the next few centuries, the Dawn Ring kept growing, and humans dove into larger-scale asteroid belt exploration with new consortiums popping up and ships darting around, landing on Vesta, Eris, Vulcan, and other asteroids to establish semi-permanent mining bases. At the same time, humans pushed their boundaries to Uranus, with the Uranus Development Foundation starting development there and its satellites and building a Uranus community designed for 200 million residents. In the meantime, humans couldn’t wait to use the warp drive for their first interstellar flight—a brave and dauntless fleet set off on an expedition to Proxima.
Naturally, things didn't go as the Earth government had envisioned; with the abnormal Lagrange points discovered, humans started exploring the universe in a completely different fashion. As soon as the first daring Explorer passed through the Stargate and transmitted back images of a new star system, all of humanity buzzed with excitement—everyone realized they were witnessing one of the biggest moments in history. Next thing you know, a wave of exploration swept across humanity, and all sorts of companies started rolling out their exploration plans. The first interstellar migration boom arrived, with people rushing into the starry sea, heading deep into the cosmos.
Throughout this time, the Dawn Ring was like a busy transit hub, but as Earth's population shrank, it lost its status as the space gateway—even the Terran Sphere Government moved its base to the City of Dawn. These days, Earth is mostly deserted, and many places have been handed back to Mother Nature.
"Right now, less than 100,000 people are living on Earth," Cooper explained, "most people have moved to the City of Dawn." Those who stayed on Earth are scattered in some ancient cities preserved as landmarks, and most are busy with heritage conservation and maintenance. "Right," Cooper recalled something, "the Dawn Tourism Bureau offers tours to Earth. If you are interested, I can set it up for you."
With a knowing smile, Andre and Anton exchanged a look, and Anton said, "I'll pass. I've already checked them all out last time. If I get the chance, I'd prefer a trip within the Solar System."
When the ship arrived at the City of Dawn, the Antonios delegation received an enthusiastic reception. Yue Wenfeng, the Chairman of the Terran Sphere, personally headed to the spaceport to welcome them. All the footage was broadcast at light speed to Yujing City, over four light-years away, and was then instantly transmitted throughout the Lagrange Network via the L001A Stargate.
A standard week later, the fleet from NOMA Shipping Group arrived at the City of Dawn. To everyone's surprise, Augustine Don, the CEO of NOMA Shipping Group, came in person. From then on, the heads of the big three in the galaxy gathered in the City of Dawn, and skepticism about the summit began to die down.
Anton quickly enrolled at Hermann University, officially becoming a freshman majoring in history and philosophy.
Ever since Andre and Augustine showed up in the City of Dawn, many previously indecisive factions changed their minds and began sending ships over.
The highly anticipated negotiations finally brought some hope to the table.
