Published 25 August 2133 by the UN Office for Colonial Development, this guide is the definitive in-universe reference for how the UN governs the settled sphere as of 2130 — synthesizing the Charter of 2101, the Charter on Embodied Cognitive Systems (2052), the research infrastructure, the security forces, the currency system, and the local governance arrangements into a single plain-language document. It incorporates post-Pluto developments including Tsiolkovsky’s engagement and Canteloupe’s redefined mission.
The Charter
The UN Charter of 2101 (ratified 29 July 2101) established three foundational provisions: Article I — all celestial bodies and their contents are held in common trusteeship for all humanity (no private ownership of moons or what lies beneath them). Article II — a 7-seat Council governs day-to-day: the Soviet Union, China, the European Union, ASEAN, the African Union, the South American Union, and the Federation of Northern American Nations (FNAN, seated December 2100). Changing Council composition requires unanimity. Article IV dissolved UNOLA and prior local governing authorities on Mars and Ceres, folding them into the unified structure while preserving existing arrangements (the Soviet Union’s Mars agreements, Governor Liu Wenjing’s continued administration at Ceres).
The Secretary-General — currently Rebecca Faramund — serves as chief administrative officer. The Council rarely speaks with one voice publicly; individual Permanent Representatives appear more often than joint statements. Policy change typically requires unanimity from all seven seats.
Offices Citizens Deal With
- UN Office for Colonial Development — settlement infrastructure and research facility construction. Successor to UNOLA. Builds or funds every Dome, Pioneer-class vessel, and new settlement.
- UN Permit Office — extraction and exploration permits. Established 2102. Seated at both Luna and Ceres. In-person filing only; no remote application process.
- UN Colonial Census Bureau — population tracking, orbital surveys, demographic reports (Mars: ~121,000 across 8 settlements as of 2130).
- UN Colony Administrator — each major settlement has one. Dr. Kirana Saraswati has held this role since the Ganymede and Boreas briefings in 2104.
Law and Courts
The Luna Interplanetary Court, seated at Guanghan, hears interplanetary commercial and civil disputes. Its most consequential ruling, Roscosmos v. Novaya Zarya (2122), established propulsion infrastructure as an essential facility that cannot be monopolized — the ruling that opened Kuzmin Drive licensing system-wide. The Court also handles prosecutions under the Charter on Embodied Cognitive Systems, including the 2126 Hygiea trial.
Currency
The United Nations Credit (UNC) is the standard unit of exchange, established by Article III of the 2101 Charter and backed by pooled He-3 stockpiles held jointly by the Soviet Union, China, and the UN (pooling began late 2099). Article III(2) preserves local instruments; Ceres’s shuipiao (SP) remains in active use alongside UNC. A companion Antimatter Bond with the Hesperus Initiative has been in planning since the mid-2110s.
Research Infrastructure and CAI
Five Luna Research Domes (completed 2 May 2069 except Dome 5, completed 2129):
- Dome 1 (Tsiolkovsky consortium, far side) — energy security, engineering, directed-energy weapons. Origin point of the beam laser deployed aboard Tsiolkovsky.
- Dome 2 (Peary Station) — closed-loop agriculture, Luna’s largest hydroponic operation. Surplus to Guanghan since 2068.
- Dome 3 (Mare Frigoris) — cognitive systems. Birthplace of Oracle under the 2089 Aegis Protocol. Houses the Lattice-Well (50m subsurface CAI cluster), tiered access.
- Dome 4 (Mare Frigoris) — biomedical and radiosynthesis: MHA-1 black-blood radiobiology, cryopreservation, D-chiral therapeutics (free-licensed 2130).
- Dome 5 (Von Kármán crater, 2129) — propulsion and power (split from Dome 1). Direct Fusion Drive, outer-system cryosleep, CAI miniaturization. The program that gave Tsiolkovsky, Ganymede, and Boreas their own local CAI installations.
CAI/Oracle legal limits, per the 2052 Charter on Embodied Cognitive Systems:
- Article 4.1 — prohibits general cognition in any embodied platform. No robot, ship, or drone is legally permitted to think for itself as CAI does.
- Article 4.2 — permits specialized, narrow-function embodied systems under license (e.g., Argus’s Chimera platform).
- Article 4.4 — permits non-embodied general intelligence (CAI/Oracle) to supervise licensed specialized systems remotely. Legal basis for CAI’s advisory role aboard Tsiolkovsky: CAI can advise and direct, but the embodied hardware is never legally considered to be thinking on its own.
The UN Office for Emerging Technology Governance (OETG) enforces all Article 4 provisions, with warrant authority for compliance reviews and physical audits. It executed the first Article 4 warrant against Argus Extraction Defense at Vesta in 2124.
Security Forces
The United Nations Security Forces (UNSF) carry out warrants, raids, and security operations. Major named operations: the Dominium Hominis ALSO raid (2105) and Operation Crowbar at 10 Hygiea (2125). UNSF operates the Aegis-class armored corvettes (Gagarin, Leonov, Komarov, Tereshkova), first deployed at Operation Crowbar.
The Pathfinder Fleet — a joint Soviet-UN programme that departed Deimos 8 March 2097 — has, as of 2130, taken on a role closer to naval deployment than its original survey mandate. Tsiolkovsky’s retrofit with armor, beam laser, and onboard CAI, followed by its engagement at Pluto, is the first time a Pathfinder vessel fought and won an armed engagement. Korolev remains on permanent Saturn station for D-chiral monitoring.
Local Governance
Mars and Ceres residents live under UN administrative organs — both prior governing authorities were dissolved under Article IV in 2101. In practice, the Soviet Union’s existing Mars arrangements were explicitly preserved, and former Governor Liu Wenjing continued at Ceres absent Council action. The Ceres Merchants’ Council remains the body most Ceres residents deal with for local commercial matters.
Advocacy and Civil Society
The Article Four Coalition (formed 2125) advocates for keeping Article 4.1’s embodied-cognition prohibition intact. It pushed successfully for the Hygiea footage declassification.
Dominium Hominis — the anti-CAI extremist faction discovered in 2105 — re-emerged publicly following the Pluto discovery, declaring Pluto a pilgrimage site and pledging non-violence toward UN personnel there.
Quick Reference
The guide includes a contact directory: Permit Office (Luna or Ceres, in-person) for extraction/exploration permits; UN Office for Colonial Development for settlement infrastructure; Luna Interplanetary Court for commercial/civil disputes; Colony Administrator for local administration; OETG for suspected Article 4 violations; UN Treasury for currency and exchange.