2043

History
More information: January 24 Lunar Conflict

The year 2043 is considered to be one of the most pivotal years, as it is theorized by many to be the spark that started the First Lunar War, the first armed conflict in human history beyond Earth's atmosphere, and marks the first year of sustainable nuclear fusion.

On January 24, during a scheduled biannual shipment of rare-earth metals inbound from the Amari Lunar Base to the Xichang launch complex in China, the onboard computers had a communications blackout for 45 seconds while in the Lower Earth Orbit, 65 hours into the mission since its launch from the Lunar Base. The reentry vehicle was later located to have entered the atmosphere near San-Francisco, and fallen 150 nautical miles away from the San Francisco bay area. Amari Corp issued a press statement on the same day condemning the PAGP for its actions, accusing the intergovernmental organization to have masterminded the attack. The debris from the fleet was found on January 26 by Amari fleet. Investigators from Amari later noted that over 4,500 tons of rare earth metal shipments were missed from the reentry vehicle, suggesting a financial motive behind the attack.

PAGP representatives responded that it was responsible for the attack on January 27, though denying involvement for financial gains. The PAGP stated that the attacks were made with ample warnings to Amari Corp in advance, citing intelligence reports stating the installment of military armaments in the Amari Lunar Base, thus violating the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. PAGP denied the violation of the Chicago Conventions of 2029 by arguing that Amari Corp was a private corporation, not representative of a nation. In classified reports, it is shown that the PAGP privately funded Nostrand Industries for a strike team to intercept and deorbit the Amari cargo for Nostrand's financial and the PAGP's political gain.

Amari Corporation responded to the PAGP's denial in May by funding ATD Systems, a weapons manufacturing firm to develop viable space-combat systems and to create a security division of its own. Amari's actions became the basis of the presence private military contractors beyond the Earth's atmosphere in the second half of the 21th century. In October 2043, Amari Corp employed a joint venture with Longsword Securities to station personnel on the Amari Lunar Base.

Melton Industries completed the construction of the DHX-04 nuclear fusion reactor on August 01 and completed a test run on August 04 using a stellarator design for magnetic confinement and neodymium based magnets for energy harnessing from a deuterium-helium reaction cycle. The DHX-04 marked the first among the Tier-2 nuclear fusion reactors by INPA Reactor Classifications and is the first reactor in history to become energy efficient. Melton Industries subsequently obtained military contracts with the INPA and PAGP to participate in the Seattle Project to develop antimatter weaponry.