Apollo Commonwealth

The **Apollo Commonwealth** is an extraplanetary holding of the **United States** **of America** on **Luna**. The core of the country is located on Oceanus Procellarum, the largest of the lunar maria, located in the central part of Luna's near side to **Earth**. Although all of the Commonwealth's city-states are located here, a single 'commonwealth territory' of Andersson is located on the Aitken Basin, on Luna's far side. The capital and largest settlement is Eagle, with a population of 491 thousand. With a population of nearly 2.6 million, approximately 24.6% of Luna's total population, the Apollo Commonwealth is the most populous extraplanetary holding on Luna.

## History

### Pre-Colonization

The United States was the first country to land humans on Luna with the *Apollo 11* mission in 1969. Between 1969 and 1976, the United States would send 15 missions to land on Luna, with 14 landing on the surface. Following the disasters on *Apollo 25* and *26*, the Apollo program was suspended, restricting the manned spaceflight program of the United States to Low Earth Orbit.

Following the successful lunar programs of the **Soviet Union** and **European Union**, in 1981 and 1993 respectively, the United States began to reconsider it's aged lunar program. The last of the Apollo missions in the early-1970s had confirmed the presence of water-ice on the lunar surface, as well as a variety of metals and rare-earth elements. After these were further confirmed by both manned missions from other nations and unmanned probes, the United States relaunched it's lunar program, this time with the final goal of establishing a permanent presence, in 1996 under the *Artemis* Program, meant to return American astronauts to the surface of Luna by 2000. The program succeeded when the *Artemis 3* mission touched down at the site of the last *Apollo* landing zone in 1999.

The *Artemis* Program would land on Luna six times between 1999 and 2003, in this time closely cooperating with both the European Space Agency (who had been considering lunar colonization) and the **Japanese** Space Development Agency, who's *Gekkō* program had first landed on Luna in 2001. In cooperation with both program, the **Horizon Lunar Base** would be established near Luna's south pole in June 2005.

### Lunar Colonization

The United States would continue to work closely on the Horizon Lunar Base, turning it into the first operational lunar outpost by June 2007. The United States would continue to cooperate closely on Horizon until an incident within the European section of the base resulted in the deaths of four European, two American and one Japanese astronaut in 2009. This, along with the creation of the Eurasian **Korolev Base** in 2007 resulted in the United States ending it's full support of the Horizon Base and establishing the **New Jamestown** colony, the first colony to include civilians and to include private industry, near Luna's equator in 2010.

Beginning in 2012, New Jamestown would receive the first 20 civilians to live on the Lunar surface, known today as the "New Jamestown Twenty". The New Jamestown Twenty would do much for proving the feasibility and sustainability of extended (or even permanent) stays on the lunar surface. Including the feasibility of conceiving and giving birth to a child on another celestial body (in 2014).

### Mass-Colonization

The success of the New Jamestown colony opened the door to more civilian colonization on Luna. In 2015, Korolev Base would begin with a group of 15 civilian colonists, and in 2017 the Japanese **Shunkai Base** would do the same with a group of ten. By the end of the 2010s, the civilian population of Luna would be nearly 75, about 40% of the total Lunar population. The success of civilian colonization would result in a wave of renewed interest in "Lunar homesteading" and a massive outpouring of support for mass-colonization.

In 2020, the United Nations Space Administration, as well as the nations involved with the exploration and colonization of Luna, would sign the **Luna Accords**, a series of extensions and amendments to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The Accords stated that Luna would remain a demilitarized world, and set the standards for increased civilian settlement and development on and around Luna. Two years later, the 117th Congress would pass the '**Next-Generation Lunar Frontier Act**' (H.R. 716), which put substantial funding towards the expansion of both lunar colonization and resource extraction. Over the next couple years, the population of Luna would skyrocket to nearly 10,000 in 2030 and 60,000 in 2040.

### Home Rule

As more and more Americans began to settle Luna, the population began to more strongly express their views on their political representation. Any colonists who moved to Luna effectively gave up all representation they had in the United States Congress, however they were still able to vote in Presidential elections, with their vote counting towards whichever state they had emigrated from. Within the colonies, the only semblance of government was made up of the various commanders of the colonies, along with whatever officers they had appointed.

The lack of democratic government and lack of colonial representation in Congress resulted in mass protests and strikes in the summer of 2025. Due to the structure of colonial society, this proved to be extremely effective. The lack of any industry functioning (apart from the life-support systems, which were mostly automated) resulted in a massive recession on Luna in 2025 and 2026. In 2027, the 119th Congress passed the '**Lunar Colonial Governance Act**' (H.R. 822), authorizing the creation of a colonial government on Luna. In July of 2028, the Apollo Commonwealth was officially declared, the first nation to exist on a body other than Earth,

## Demographics

### Population

The Apollo Commonwealth Census Bureau places the population of the Apollo Commonwealth in 2110 at 2.544 million, approximately 24.6% of Luna's total population. The population has increased by 760,000 since 2100 and by 2.5 million since 2060. As of 2110, the Apollo Commonwealth is the most populous extraplanetary holding on Luna, approximately 600,000 ahead of **Bahloo**. Population is expected to increase throughout the 22nd century, potentially plateauing at around 15-20 million around the mid-2200s as **Mars** becomes more habitable.

As of 2110, the most populous city-state within the country is the capital of Eagle (491,232), following by Kennedy (389,655) and Armstrong (386,252). The Zeeman Territory has a combined population of 2,500 and requires a population of 10,000 to be admitted as a full city-state.

### Language

The Constitution of the Apollo Commonwealth sets no official language. That said, over 95% of the population is fluent in at least one of the three major languages spoken in the United States: English, Spanish, and French. On top of these, a variety of pidgin languages are widely spoken. The most common of these are between English & Spanish (Spanglish), English & Mandarin (Chinglish), and Spanish & Mandarin (Spandarin).

The first of these is similar to the English/Spanish pidgin that exists in the **United States of Tharsis**. The latter two developed independently between the 2030s and 2040s as a result of mass immigration from China on Earth. Among notable minority languages are Mandarin, Cantonese, Indonesian, and Italian.

### Religion

The Apollo Proclamation of Universal Rights guarantees total freedom of religion to all residents. The largest religions in the country are Christianity (33.2%), Buddhism (10.6%), and Islam (4.7%). 44.2% of the country identifies as non-religious.

### Cybernetics

Overall, Cybernetic modifications are more common (by percentage of population) on Luna than on either Earth or Mars. Of Apollo, 2.5 million residents, 67.9% have at least one modification, equating to about 1.76 million individuals. Of this, 26.8% have between one and five modifications, 30.9% have between six and ten modifications, and 10.2% have more than ten modifications.

## Government & Politics

The Apollo Federal Government is the oldest organized government on Luna. The government functions as a representative democracy. All government actions are monitored by a system of checks-and-balances, which ensures no part of the government gains power over the others. All formal federal laws are derived from the **Apollo Constitution**, which is itself derived from the **United States Constitution**. All citizens are subject to three levels of governance: The federal government, the city-state government, and the district/neighborhood (local) government.

### Structure

The Apollo Federal Government can be divided into three branches:

* **Executive:** Office of the Governor-General of Apollo, Apollo President, and Cabinet. Can veto legislative bills before they become laws, appoint members of Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
* **Legislative:** Made up of the Apollo Senate (upper house) and House of Representatives (lower house). Can propose laws, approve treaties, impeach members of government, and finalize the federal budget.
* **Judicial**: Consists of the Supreme Court of the Apollo Commonwealth and lower federal courts. Judges appointed by president (with Senate approval). Has ability to interpret Constitution and find laws in violation of said constitution.

The President of the Apollo Commonwealth is directly elected by the populace for a four-year term, which is renewable once. While the President is the official head-of-government, they share the head-of-state duties with the Governor-General. The Governor-General of Apollo is an appointed position by the President of the United States on Earth, but the selection is at the request of the Apollo President. The term length is usually "at the President's request", although this is usually 4-8 years. The Governor-General acts mainly as a representative of the United States Federal Government to the Apollo Commonwealth, as well as an advisor to the Apollo President.

The Apollo House of Representatives is currently made up of 260 members, which once representative for every 10,000 citizens on average. The Apollo Senate is comprised of 16 Senators, which each State getting two seats. Representatives serve a two-year term which is renewable three times, while Senators serve for a six-year term which is renewable once.

The Supreme Court of the Apollo Commonwealth is made up of nine justices which are appointed by the Apollo President, while being subject to Senate approval. They serve for life, unless the judge retires.

### Political Parties

Most of Apollo's political parties are derived from those within the United States back on Earth. The major political parties in the Apollo Commonwealth are as follows:

The current ruling coalition within the Apollo Congress is made up of the Apollo Technocrats and Apollo Conservative Party, as well as about half of the LICSRP Representatives. The opposition, meanwhile, is made up of the Apollo NDP and Headway Party. While the LICSRP is officially neutral, this hasn't stopped the previously-mentioned half of representatives from being apart of the government.

### Political Autonomy

The Apollo Commonwealth's degree of political autonomy from the United States of America has always been an issue within the country, going back to even before it's founding. The Lunar Colonial Governance Act of 2027 says that the American colonies on Luna are "extraplanetary holdings who are to be self-governing under a constitution and representative government."

In practice, the Apollo Commonwealth operates similarly to a freely-associated state of the United States of America. Apollo receives the freedom to elect and manage their own government, as well as freedom in areas such as foreign affairs. However, the USA gives Apollo integration into the American economy, as well as access to things like American social and economic services, such as healthcare and funding/grants.

### Administrative Subdivisions

The Apollo Commonwealth is divided into eight city-states and one territory. City-states function the same as normal states with the United States on Earth. Each state and territory is overseen by an elected governor, legislative council, and court system. Each city-state is further divided into districts, which can function similarly to counties. the vast areas of land which have no permanent human presence are usually put under the jurisdiction of whichever city-state or territory they are geographically closest too.