Jovian Europa was founded as a research station where scientists from different empires and planets worked together to create warp. Over time it became the capital of the Solar System. It was established in ancient times, during the first era of solar spaceflight on gravity engines. Its name comes from Jupiter’s moon Europa. As many different moons named “Europa” appeared over time, the moon in the Solar System became known as “Jovian Europa.”
A jump requires a massive body with gravity, such as Jupiter, that can accelerate a reactor using lawrencium or nobelium and fold space into a corridor leading to another point in space. That is why scientists chose Jovian Europa as the laboratory for all their experiments. To keep politicians and imperial leaders from threatening scientific development, the zone was made demilitarized and any military presence was forbidden. It was funded equally by all three empires.
Scientists
Everyone who went to work on Jovian Europa renounced their subjects’ oaths and citizenships, swearing to serve only the advancement of humanity and science. Experiments on the station could not be used to invent military weapons.
Science
The scientists at this research station developed the first warp engine.
Invention of the Warp Engine
The result of decades of work by the independent station and the combined efforts of all empires was the First Warp Jump. After the events of the Uprising of Science, Jovian Europa gained full control over warp crossings and warp-jump technology in general. Only Jovian Europa could create, design, maintain, and sell warp engines. For all users, the warp engine was a black box. Later, Jovian Europa also gained exclusive control over warp-jump permits once it began routing jumps for all three empires on request.
Politics
At first, the station existed purely as a scientific institution for all three empires. Imperial leaders always knew that any invention made there, even one created by former subjects of a rival empire, would become available to the other two. Because of this spirit of liberty and free exchange of information, the station gradually pulled away from imperial influence and began acting as an independent political force. After the crisis during the Uprising of Science, it legally secured full independence from outside influence and gained enormous leverage over everyone else: warp crossings. This technology became the core around which the influence of Jovian Europa and the Council of Science over the other empires was built. Without Europa’s permission and routing, no one could jump through warp or deploy warp beacons for successors.
Several centuries after its founding, Jovian Europa adopted a completely agnostic position toward all empires. All of them recognized the supremacy of the Council of Science, and in any dispute the final word belonged to Jovian Europa. Europa could also “help” and “advise” in choosing the next emperor of any empire to advance its own interests. None of the empires liked this, but being cut off from warp crossings meant strategic strangulation and state collapse.