Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

Although the nation has maintained ambitions towards conquering a new frontier, these have largely fallen out of its reach. Whether it be complications related to the structure of the nation’s space agency or a lack of political willpower to see to the redirection of significant financial and manpower resources towards attaining such a goal. Lodamun’s lunar ambitions have always been tempered by sudden punches back into reality. Yet, even as the Lodamese Space Administration (LSA) had previously set itself out as an entity aimed at supporting/enabling the efforts of others, there had been growing interest within public policy spheres related to the nation’s pivot to space. An executive committee appointed by the President to report and make recommendations related to the concept and practice of “Lodamun in Space” has recently had its final report declassified by Whitehall and the Department of Defence. The report details numerous key objectives for the concept of Lodamun in space, opening with commentary on the importance of maintaining space as a zone of peace and committing to the broader global consensus against the use and deployment of armed assets in space.

 “The Commonwealth of Lodamun herein commits to this consensus, recognising its importance towards the advancement of scientific research and discovery,” an excerpt from the report reads. Beyond this commitment, the report also highlights numerous public and private ventures which have been unfolding behind the scenes even as the LSA has been focused elsewhere. Pointing to prior, but ultimately sidelined ambitions for Lodamun to maintain its own, independent satellite navigation systems, an independent environmental satellite network alongside other projects, the report notes that a Lodamun in space will have the opportunity to collaborate with other nations in actualising these ambitions towards independence of information. The report underscores the importance of Lodamun developing a capacity to not only develop and launch rockets and advanced scientific systems but also maintaining such systems in through a sustained programme of launches. “Where possible, the Lodamese Space Administration must maintain a near-perpetual state of rocketry, learning from the lessons of the Lodamese Navy and the Harrington Company in their perpetually scaled shipbuilding programme,” the report read.

At a substantive press conference held at the Department of Science and Technology building in Kensington, Secretary of Science and Technology Dr Lydia Alexander, speaking alongside the Administrators of the Research Projects Administration (RPA) and the Lodamese Space Administration (LSA) and the Director of the Strategic Defence Agency (SDA), Secretary Alexander announced that the Lodamese Government through the DoST would commit some 100-200 billion LOD, over a long-term period to see the idea of Lodamun “confident and active” in space come to fruition. She noted that although the report had been recently declassified, the DoST, alongside its subordinate entities, have been hard at work acting on its core recommendations. Highlighting one such recommendation, she noted that the DoST alongside the RPA and the LSA have engaged a cross-disciplinary team of experts from the various universities of Lodamun, including the Newchester Institute of Technology, Drumford University and the University of Berkwaki on design concepts related to the development of advanced, yet cost-effective rocketry. 

She noted that Lodamun’s leap into rocketry as the basis of its space programmes underscores the importance with which the nation is placing on actionable systems. “By initiating our pivot into space by leaning heavily into rocketry, I believe we are sending a clear message to all our potential partners in the private sector that we are searching for actionable systems. Things with which we can deploy and develop today,” Secretary Alexander noted. When asked whether the development of an indigenous class of rockets would be the endpoint of this focus on rocketry, Secretary Alexander explained that although there is no need to reinvent the wheel and that Lodamun could learn lessons from other nations, the development of indigenous systems will be the programme’s lodestar. “Obviously, where developing a domestic system will be more expensive than utilising something developed else, the LSA and its partners will of course lean towards the least expensive option, guided its lower price does not compromise the quality of the product itself,” she concluded. LSA Administrator Dr David Wilkinson confirmed that some 25 billion LOD has been earmarked for the LSA’s rocketry programme.

The Strategic Defence Agency’s involvement in the space programme is unsurprising. As its core mission statement, the agency denotes the defence of Lodamun from threats in all domains, with space being an important part of said domains. Although subordinate to the Department of Defence, it has been “detailed” to the space programme with the intent of being the Lodamese Armed Forces’ representative. ADM. Richard Ebaugh, Director of the SDA, underscored the importance of satellite technology in the agency’s operations, offering that without the ability to track the movement of certain airborne targets in space, such as ballistic and hypersonic missiles, Lodamun remains extremely vulnerable to attack. “The proliferation of hypersonic weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles nonetheless complicates the outer space environment. Although these weapons do not constitute “space weapons” (nor should they), they nonetheless undergo key processes in their time on target in space. Ballistic missiles separate from their boosters and become extremely volatile in space as they begin to accept data on targets before they make their descent back into the atmosphere. We [the SDA] want to be able to track the targets from launch to target. We do not want a situation which would give us little room to respond, although currently the AEGIS combat platform and the SM-3 on most of our guided missile destroyers are what stands between us and these types of threats. We want to be able to possess satellite technology to track these targets to give us more time to develop firing solutions against these targets, potentially destroying them in orbit instead of on their final descent.” ADM. Ebaugh explained in great detail. The Research Projects Administration has stated that it intends to work with the LSA, SDA and the AFPA (Armed Forces Projects Agency) on specific military satellite technologies, alongside civilian satellites. “Our role in this programme is to work with our partners in developing the satellite technologies, which are the endpoint of this entire programme. From satellite navigation to geospatial and environmental satellites.” Dr Edward Elder, the Administrator of the RPA, explained.