Rea

== Planetary Data ==
Diameter: ~14100 km
Gravimetry: 0.89
Rotation: 33.0 h
Government: Octavius
Colony: Mining
The planet Rea orbits in the outer system of a yellow main sequence star in the Cainan Point sector of Octavius space. The opening of a jump path to this world so soon after the Shift (PS 12) was extremely fortuitous for the large population of Ares Prime, the Imperial capital, as surface ices on Rea are an easily-accessed source of water.
Despite the presence of water ice, Rea is not a reasonable target for terraforming. The energy investment required to maintain an atmosphere given the low solar flux at Rea’s distance from the local star is unreasonable, even if the mix of surface volatiles were appropriate. Support facilities for the ice mining operations are located within heated domes and subsurface tunnels. Rea’s thin carbon dioxide atmosphere is a result of limited sublimation of surface volatiles, and is inadequate to provide a useful greenhouse effect. Heated pressure suits are required for all extravehicular surface operations.
Rea is orbited by a thin ring of asteroidal debris, and there are several clumps of similar material in more distant orbits. These asteroids hosted significant mining operations in the middle decades of the past century, but have since fallen into disuse. During the recent two decades of Imperial introspection, the defunct mining installations have become the target of scavengers and have largely been either commandeered or stripped.
The military outpost Maximian’s Wall orbits within an asteroid field in close proximity to the sector’s Jumpgate. The station includes some limited industrial support facilities, mainly serving as a cargo transshipment point for extracted water ice and other volatiles. Military postings to Maximian’s Wall have increased in the past half-year and all indications are that manpower at the station is being increased as a result of the Senate’s shift to more outward-looking policies.
Source: Imperial Archives, entry updated 100.7.15