Lucheng Interstellar

Lucheng Interstellar
Leadership	Dr.Chao
Headquarters	Lijiang Tower,China
Type	Aerospace company
Standing	Active

Lucheng Interstellar is a Chinese company specializing in the space industry.

Background[]

Lucheng is focused on long-range space exploration.^[1] Its offices are located inLijiang Tower. Among its projects were theHorizon Lunar Colony andInterstellar Journey Space Station.^[2]

History[]

Pre-Crisis[]

Lucheng was founded before theOmnic Crisis. At the time, space science had surged over the first half of the 21st century, and Lucheng was at the head of these advancements, which included detection and deflection of near-Earth objects, and new telescopes which improved humanity's understanding of the universe. Lucheng, focused on long-range space travel, didn't just want the moon and Mars, they wanted the universe. But before that could happen, they needed to study the long-term effects of low-gravity environments on living organisms.^[1]

To this end, it created theHorizon Lunar Colony. It contractedWancài Industries to develop a hydroponics system for the base, which was installed. At the same time, it advanced textile manufacturing so that by the end of the first year of Horizon's operation, the weight of the standard space suit had been reduced by 40%. These textiles trickled down to various sectors on Earth, which inadvertantly saved lives when the Omnic Crisis began, as the technology was as resilient as Kevlar, but even lighter.^[1]

Medical technology was also further advanced due to Horizon's experiments. Because the base's radiation shielding could not match Earth's natural defenses, Lucheng was forced to prioritize research into cancer treatments. New treatments for lowered bone density improved the fortunes of those suffering bone-related conditions on Earth. Accompanying advances in muscular tissue rejuvination also trickled down. Even those who considered the Horizon colony a distraction mostly came around, however begrudgingly, to accept that they owed these advances to Horizon's existence.^[1]

After the establishment of Horizon, Lucheng Interstellar set its sights on a new frontier: Mars. Though their initial proposal for the project was denied by theUnited Nations, Lucheng kept its plans in motion, forming a group of scientists and engineers in secret.^[3]

Post-Crisis[]

Sometime after the Omnic Crisis, Lucheng initiatedProject Red Promise—a secret project to terraform Mars, contravening the UN's prior edict. Red Promise would be a multi-stage colonization effort^[3] with the first wave setting up acolony on the Martian surface, while a second, larger wave would be dispatched decades later, bringing additional personnel and material.^[4] The initial wave was a success, with a colony established in months, followed by the initiation of terraforming.^[3]

Years after Horizon went dark, Lucheng revealed in a press conference that the base's monitoring systems and databases were still operating. While no direct communication was established with the facility, the company successfully retrieved interpersonnel logs sent days and moments before the base lost contact with Earth. It shared these transmissions with the press, includingAtlas News. It later released an image of the colony's still-operating integrated monitoring systems. A Lucheng spokesperson told Atlas News that the connection was unstable, but that company was working around the clock to gather new information.^[5]

Six years beforeWinston's recall, the company was working on a new space station.^[6]

A few years after this, Project Red Promise was experiencing difficulties. As terraforming of Mars continued, soil and debris was kicked into the planet's atmosphere, resulting in dust storms that grew more violent year after year. Eventually, these storms grew to such a magnitude that they began to question whether life on the colony could be sustained. To make matters worse, their attempts to contact Lucheng Interstellar received no response, and the second wave of Project Red Promise never arrived. In a hail Mary,Juno Teo Minh was sent from Mars to reach Earth and find a way to send help.^[3]

Known Branches[]

• Lunar Ops
  • Simian Research Division
• Project Red Promise (disavowed)

Known Members[]

• Dr.Chao (CEO)
• Dr.Harold Winston (deceased)
• Dr.Zhang (deceased)
• Jiayi Teo (disavowed)
• Khiem Van Minh (disavowed)
• Flores (deceased)
• Nevsky (deceased)
• Nguyen (deceased)
• Patel (deceased)
• Yoshida (deceased)

References[]