The year is 2148. It is a golden age of human space endeavors, biotechnology, and computer sciences. A giant space elevator, known as "Jack's Beanstalk", named after designer Jack Weyland, extends from the American megatropolis of New Angeles over 22 thousand miles into Geostationary Earth Orbit, where a massive station christened the Castle resides. This structure, considered the pinnacle of human engineering by the Weyland Consortium and its subsidiaries, enabled massive colonization efforts as humanity expanded throughout the Sol System.
While the Armstrong Outpost in Shackleton Crater was established as humanity's first permanent extraterrestrial settlement in 2069, the Beanstalk allowed for larger settlements to be created, notably Lowell City in Eos Chasma on Mars, established by the European Space Agency in 2103, which was then followed by similar settlements such as the United States' Mytikas City on Olympus Mons, Russia's Rurik Center at the North Pole, and China's Liwei Station at the South Pole. Following the much earlier 'Lunar War' conflict (a complex series of events following the construction of the Beanstalk that saw several US backed He3 mining corporations, notably Melange Mining Corp. experience alleged sabotage efforts that killed many workers. Colonists on the Moon blamed their Chinese and Russian neighbors. After a month of retaliatory strikes, a ceasefire was declared and the Weyland Consortium snatched up almost 70% of the orbital reconstruction contracts.), the colonists on Mars grew weary of the corporate influence from Earth, especially the Weyland Consortium. The Mars separatists have been gaining political footholds ever since, rejecting any perceived extensions of Earth's governance.
Far beyond Mars, and even beyond Pluto, lies Gagarin Station. Built in a joint venture by US, Russian, European, and (reluctantly) Chinese space agencies, Gagarin Station, constructed in 2143, is humanity's first, great attempt at Faster Than Light (FTL) travel. In the five years since then, it has been considered a massive failure as every attempt fell short of practical, safe FTL speeds. Since rechristened "Jump Zero", most of the scientists there have given up, choosing to take the months-long journey back to the inner planets.