Gigantic Age

Gigantic Age
Publisher	Our Science
Date	August 2004
Subject	Basset Space Center Mass Driver Arkbird
Game	Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

Gigantic Age was a special Our Science issue published in August 2004. It focused on Osea's space developments, particularly the Arkbird. Below is a translation of the original Japanese text.

Introduction

Science and technologies that developed out of the circumstances of their time are now shaping those circumstances for themselves. The cold war gave birth to many different concepts and programs, and in turn, they've begun to serve as a vital framework for a world that now walks the path of reconciliation.

The Age of Titans has arrived.

Arkbird

A High-Atmosphere Mobile Spacecraft operated by Osea. Born of the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) program in the '80s, it was changed over to be part of the Osea-Yuktobania international space development program after the end of the cold war. It was constructed jointly by the two. Rather than returning to the ground, it has maintained a continuous orbit since entering service, making use of SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) shuttles to ferry supplies and personnel. For this reason, it's technically classified as a satellite, but its ability to make large changes to its orbit by descending into the upper stratosphere means that this is no ordinary space platform; it maintains a high degree of freedom.

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Mass Driver / Basset Space Center

This mass driver station constructed on the Osean continent along the equator was built jointly by both Osea and Yuktobania to further their "Permanent Space Station Construction Program," held up as a foothold towards the normalization of their diplomatic relations following the end of the cold war. It is a large, curving structure, serving to launch objects into orbit using a linear accelerator (a comparatively low-cost means of ferrying payloads by the applied use of electromagnetic force) stretching 12 km long, instead of primarily by means of solid fuel rockets. The payloads are almost wholly unmanned due to strong acceleration forces, but it's also possible to ferry personnel by using the SSTO shuttle's rockets.

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