[Alneyan]

"This is GNN for our weekly programme 'Stellar technology'. A few days ago, the Altair Shipyards announced the production of a unique vessel, featuring unique technology: the ASC Butterfly, a civilian Starliner.

This vessel is equipped with standard issue weaponry and grade 3 shielding, as all Starliners of its generation. What was truly unexpected on such a vessel is the presence of self-sustaining warp engines, able to travel at speeds much higher than the speed of light. As all modern propulsion systems, the Zephyr engines are able to cross a system in less than a month, but they can also create their own disturbances in space to connect two systems with ease. Not only does such engines reduce time travel a lot, they also enable the Butterfly Starliner to avoid well-travelled routes, where pirates love to ambush unwary vessels.

Though Zephyr engines have been in use for the past three years by select military forces, nobody had expected a civilian use of these devices so soon. Of course, Altair's CEO Morgan Chane planned on at least four years before the first Butterfly is ready, but the question remains: how did Altair manage to get that technology long before it was due to become widespread? The common theory is that the army was lacking credits to finance further developments in shielding and weaponry; yet, seven vessels of the line were commissioned in the last year alone, an expense most systems could not hope to cover. Altair is suspected to have stolen the technology from the Fleet; indeed, some link this discovery to the suspect disappearance of the Oedipus two years ago, even going so far as to suggest Altair somehow managed to seize the vessel.

Regardless of how they got their technology, Altair Shipyards are expected to make a hefty profit with this new line of Starliners: despite a steep price (more than many colonies' annual income), trillionaires have already ordered a few such vessels, and Altair reported they would be 'busy for more than twenty years with all the orders [they] have received in the past week'. The military has refused to comment on the news, though they did promise an inquiry in the matter.

That's it for today: next week, we will examine the everyday life impact of the improved colonisation programme(project Odysseus).

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