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subspaceteatime — Arrow Ground to Orbit Program

#alternatehistory #rocket #space #spaceship
Published: 2016-11-28 10:55:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 2669; Favourites: 47; Downloads: 20
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Description A little bit of backstory. In this alternate world, the aftermath of the American Revolution went horribly awry, neutering the nascent United States in its infancy, while the French Revolution was even worse and created a Europe that at best resembles the USSR under Khruschev and at worst the USSR under Stalin. In this vacuum, Russia rose as the world's greatest power following the downfall of the British and French empires, and China later rose as the renewed great power to challenge it. Today, in the year 2084, the two democratic states face off in every way from outer space to cyber space, a rivalry that has spurred human technological and social development ever onward. The two mega-states flex their muscles across the world and beyond as the two powers, tentatively, make their way into outer space with all the dangers and riches that lie therein. It is not always a peaceful process, but it is one that is set to catapult humanity into a new age.

The Arrow (Стрела) Program is one of Russia's finest programs. It was designed to be the workhorse of the Russian rocket fleet, particularly as Russia, unlike China, does not have easy access to a space elevator. It has performed its job admirably, having enough power to get capsules as far as the first Lagrangian point. One of the very positive elements of the Arrow program, too, has been its ability to turn spent stages into orbital wet workshops to for various tasks like espionage, scientific discovery, and habitat experimentation. Russia typically keeps 5 habitats in orbit and uses more Arrow launch systems to relieve the crews and bring extra supplies (most of the wet workshops being self-sufficient at this point). While in 2084 the wet workshops are rather old and have been far outpaced by far fancier and newer stations, and the Arrow by much nicer ships, it continues to be a tried and true part of Russia's fleet. Here it is carrying an Enterprise capsule, a cheap and efficient capsule designed to work well with wet workshops and other orbital stations.
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Comments: 7

Flying-Snake [2016-12-17 12:47:29 +0000 UTC]

Great backstory
You earned fav and watch!
I love when artist put an effort to make backstory or even better construct his own world.

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subspaceteatime In reply to Flying-Snake [2016-12-20 03:29:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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BadgingBadger [2016-11-28 14:44:14 +0000 UTC]

What replaced the United States ITTL? A british dominion?

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subspaceteatime In reply to BadgingBadger [2016-11-28 15:02:42 +0000 UTC]

Well, the United States technically still exists, but it's smaller, weaker, and it's government is severely hobbled. Like if some of Jefferson's more extreme ideas had actually become reality. The British aren't doing well either, with the monarchy being in exile in Canada and Australasia. 

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BadgingBadger In reply to subspaceteatime [2016-11-28 15:16:22 +0000 UTC]

1. How's Africa, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East doing here?
2. What's going on in jacobin-dominated Europe? Did Germany unite?
3. I see it's 2084 and people still seem to be using outdated rocket designs. Has tech stagnated ITTL?

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subspaceteatime In reply to BadgingBadger [2016-11-28 15:29:37 +0000 UTC]

1. North Africa is dominated by Jacobin forces and integrated as part of Europe. On the one hand, yay less racism than OTL. On the other hand, more brutal dictatorships. The rest of Africa is a mixed bag but parts of it, particularly West Africa and the Horn of Africa, are much better off than in our world due to not nearly so much damaging colonialism. Japan is a Russian ally and mostly powerful through trade and technology, as they never had much of an Empire. Like if 80's Japan never fully ended. The Middle East isn't quite so bad as today, though the Turkish Sultanate is still pretty large. Radical Islam isn't really a thing, and lots and lots of Jews live alongside Muslims in the Holy Land.
2. France is still top dog in Europe. The British Isles are divided and most of the rest is below France, which owns Italian Piedmont, Germany west of the Rhine, and Belgium as well as Catalonia. France itself is brutal in its regime and a bit too big but still manages to hold on. Germany was not allowed to unite, and is divided into a North German state, a South German state, and a Bohemian/Czech state.
3. Well, the tech on this rocket is actually stuf that's cutting edge today in 2016. So it's less super outdated and more that, like how we continue to use the Soyuz rockets developed in the mid-60's today, they still use the Arrow for simple, cost-effective missions. Tech is not stagnant and is quite advanced in 2084, as future images in this world will show.

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BadgingBadger In reply to subspaceteatime [2016-11-28 15:40:12 +0000 UTC]

An interesting world you created. Kudos to that, i look forward for more in-depth info about it!

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