Interkosmos / INTERKOS

A timeline of Interkosmos and our forebears:

20th century:

1957 – Sputnik 1 enters Earth space as the world’s first artificial satellite.
1961 – Yuri Gagarin, aboard Vostok 1, accomplishes the first human spaceflight.
1963 – Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
1975 – Apollo-Soyuz is the first multinational human-crewed mission.
1978 – Mirosław Hermaszewski flies as the first, and for a long time only, Polish cosmonaut.
1991 – Soyuz TM-13 is the last Soviet space mission, prior to the USSR’s collapse.

21st century:

2037 – A group of veteran cosmonauts, concerned with the growing power of private “for-profit” space programmes, forms a not-for-profit organisation in accordance with the tradition of space exploration with the goal of furthering human progress; “Interkosmos” is born.
2044 – The new Interkosmos performs its first manned spaceflight with the aid of the Russian, American, European, and Japanese space agencies.
2096 – Interkosmos now owns several space stations and offworld facilities.

22nd century:

2122 – Researchers of Interkosmos reluctantly agree to aid the Roberts Space Industries corporation with their terraforming efforts on Mars.
2160 – The first independent Mars-based facility of Interkosmos is founded on the red planet.
2188 – In a first for the group, all the crew aboard an Interkosmos shuttle die during a routine research trip.

23rd century:

2232 – Cosmonauts from Interkosmos are among the crew of humanity’s first interstellar starship, Artemis, onboard during its journey towards GJ 667Cc; the vessel ultimately disappears.
2262 – A crew of Interkosmos pioneers disappears in the Neso Triangle not long before it is declared a no-fly zone.

24th century:

2310 – Interkosmos joins terraforming efforts in the Croshaw System.
2380 – All members of Interkosmos celebrate the creation of the United Nations of Earth.

25th century:

2438 – Interkosmos pioneers join in UNE diplomacy with the first alien species humanity makes contact with, the Banu.

26th century:

2523 – Following the reformation of the UNE into the United Planets of Earth, Interkosmos delegates are happy with the resulting greater representation given to inhabitants of offworld colonies but dissatisfied with many of the political changes that also come about.
2530 – Discovery of the Xi’an Empire leads to a cold war between it and the UPE; Interkosmos is highly critical of Earth policy towards the Xi’an.
2542 – Interkosmos remain at the forefront of opposition towards UPE’s hostile policies against extraterrestrials following the outbreak of the First Tevarin War.
2546 – Cosmonauts of Interkosmos become some of Ivar Messer’s staunchest critics, following the latter’s restructuring of the UPE into the United Empire of Earth.
2550 – Interkosmos is declared an illegal organisation; all of the group’s facilities in UEE territory are forcibly closed and its members are arrested – some surrender peacefully, a few begin a short-lived guerrilla war against the Empire, many more run and disappear from public life. The next few decades are known as the Dark Age of Interkosmos history.

27th century:

2681 – When first contact is made with the Vanduul, several prominent pioneers of Interkosmos resurface and enter public discourse in order to argue for peaceful proceedings. All of them eventually disappear, presumably imprisoned or assassinated by UEE forces or contractors.

28th century:

2700s – Not much of this time period is officially recorded, but it is known that Interkosmos structures continue to recover and grow in secret whilst backing various resistance groups against the UEE leadership.

29th century:

2801 – Following the Messer dynasty’s downfall, Interkosmos is officially pardoned by the UEE and no longer carries the status of an outlawed organisation. Despite this, pioneers continue to function mostly in secret due to distrust towards the regime and remain highly critical of it. It is revealed that Interkosmos played a key part in conspiring against the Messers on a number of planets and has a presence in Levski.

30th century:

2950 – Interkosmos begins operations in the Stanton system; by now the organisation has recovered somewhat, but is still far from its golden era of pioneering exploration and discovery under the UNE/UPE in the 24th and 25th centuries. Its character has also changed somewhat. Many outlaws have joined the organisation and advanced through its ranks since the latter half of the 28th century, which results in a considerable element of bounty hunters functioning within Interkosmos.

At its heart, Interkosmos remains an organisation in favour of pioneering scientific progress, thus many of its older and more esteemed members are purely research-oriented. However, having to survive so many years in the underworld as a criminal syndicate of sorts has also developed a sizeable amount of mercenaries within the group’s ranks. The organisation’s purely peaceful approach towards alien life has changed a little as well; learning from lessons with the hostile Vanduul, Interkosmos now supports potential warfare in the interests of humanity’s survival – though peaceful solutions are still preferred.