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Jupiter (木星?) is the fifth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the first of the "outer planets," those planets which orbit the Sun outside the asteroid belt that exists beyond Mars. With the sole exception of the Sun itself, Jupiter is the largest and most massive celestial object in the Solar System. It has more than double the mass of every other planet in the Solar System combined, though its density is low because of its gaseous composition. Jupiter has no known solid surface, being composed almost entirely of gasses, primarily hydrogen and helium. Because of its colossal size and gaseous makeup, Jupiter and other planets similar to it are referred to as "gas giants." One of Jupiter's most interesting phenomena is the "Great Red Spot," a storm that is larger than the entire Earth that has lasted for centuries, so named because of its distinct red color. Jupiter also has rings, though they are very feint. Jupiter also has a multitude of moons, as many as 80, with the four largest of its natural satellites being Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Though it was never a story setting in Gundam until much later in the franchise, Jupiter has an important, and increasing, role in the political and economic underpinning of the Universal Century setting. Denizens of Jupiter are referred to as "Jovians," though rarely "Jupiterian" is used.

Universal Century[]

Jupiter is an important source of Helium-3, which is "harvested" from the planet's gaseous atmosphere and transported to the Earth Sphere through the efforts of the Jupiter Energy Fleet. Helium-3 is used to fuel the thermonuclear fusion reactors that support the energy infrastructure of the Earth. People who lived in the Jupiter Sphere lived and worked either in ships, or in closed-type colonies. The colonies around Jupiter had to be towed from the Earth Sphere because they did not have the capabilities to manufacture something that large. Those colonies were smaller than usual, so life around Jupiter was almost always in 0 or low gravity. Because of the extreme distance between the Earth Sphere and Jupiter, there came to be a divide between the two, culturally, as well as in technological innovation and their seeming propensity for "psychics". Mobile Suits built to operate around Jupiter were extremely powerful to counteract the planet's extreme gravity, making them a force when operated in the Earth Sphere. Likewise, people who return from Jupiter after spending a great deal of time there are met with a great deal of interest, admiration and some suspicion. Challia Bull was one such individual who returned from Jupiter during the One Year War. During the Gryps War another "man from Jupiter", Paptimus Scirocco, returned to the Earth and used his great influence and treachery to climb the ranks of the Titans. Following the First Neo Zeon War, former AEUG pilots Judau Ashta and Roux Louka joined the Energy Fleet and travel to Jupiter. Since the end of One Year War, the Jupither Sphere was subject to repeated acts of piracy by Zeon Remnants who want to cripple Earth Federation's supply routes. In U.C. 0082 was Johnny Ridden to attack Jupiter Fleet and his actions were emulated after the Second Neo Zeon War, when a group of Neo Zeon's army left the Earth Sphere for Jupiter under the name of "Jupiter Phantom". Finally, the Earth Federation managed to identify Jupiter Phantom's home base and in U.C. 0095 sent an expedition to stop the onslaught of Jupiter Phantom.

In the decades that follow, as the Earth Federation continues to weaken and the conditions around Jupiter also become more dire, the Jupiter Corporation transitions into a dictatorship called the Jupiter Empire. Under the leadership of Crux Dogatie, a very strict rationing and class-based system are instituted. Placing himself and the military at the top of the social order, Dogatie's rule is absolute. He begins working to undermine the Earth Federation because of his long-standing hatred of them, providing secret assistance to Cosmo Babylonia to foment rebellion, all while sending weapons of mass destruction and agents to Earth for his own ends. Dogatie's plan comes to fruition in U.C. 0133, when Dogatie declared war against the Earth Federation government after faking a diplomatic meeting. He intended to use nuclear weapons to render the Earth uninhabitable, however, he was stopped by the combined effort of the Crossbone Vanguard, the Earth Federation Forces, and military intervention by space colony forces, led by Sherindon Ronah. Crux Dogatie was killed and the war was ended, but some Jovian remnants would linger in the Earth Sphere.

The situation around Jupiter changed very little after the war. Dogatie, though dead, was still revered and an overwhelming resentment for the Crossbone Vanguard and Earth still lingered. By U.C. 0136, the Callisto brothers, the brothers-in-law of Crux Dogatie, had become the Jupiter Empire's new supreme leaders. The two intended to reignite the war with Earth through Operation Divine Thunder -a plan to devastate Earth using the colony laser "Divine Punishment." Europa Dogatie attempted to flee to Earth to warn of the impending attack. Callisto's Shadow followed her to stop any intervention, but was killed. A seven-member Crossbone Vanguard strike force called the 'Steel 7' would use the Speed King to reach Jupiter in less than a week in a desperate attempt to stop the "Divine Punishment" from firing on the Earth. Though suffering heavy losses, "Divine Punishment" is destroyed, Callisto's Light and Europa Dogatie are both killed. A rebel faction arrises to suppress the remaining Dogatie loyalists in the government.

Two years later Tetenith Dogatie returns to the Jupiter colonies, and reorganizes them into the Jupiter Republic, and she managed to avert their impending economic collapse by diverting Jupiter Foundation money to the public good. The strict rationing was ended and she begins a new era of outreach between Jupiter and the Earth Sphere, building the Minovsky Drive-propelled interplanetary ship Manzana Flor and collaborated with Side 2 to create the Angel Halo as a refugee ship. But, despite her noble intentions, Dogatie loyalists in the government would begin to subvert their benign means to militaristic ends. Side 2 would come under control of the Zanscare Empire, and Fonse Kagatie, who had ties to Jupiter, would use the Angel Halo as a weapon. After the Zanscare War ends the "Servants of Olympus," a faction of warhawks, launch a coup d'état and seize control of the Jupiter Republic, exiling Queen Tetenith's family to the Earth Sphere and placing her in cryogenic sleep as "house arrest."

Cosmic Era[]

Main article: Jupiter (Cosmic Era) George Glenn, the first Coordinator, would design a spaceship named the Tsiolkovsky and use it to embark on the Jupiter Exploration Mission for the Atlantic Federation's Federal Aeronautics and Space Administration. The voyage would take fourteen years. When George Glenn returned to Earth he brought back "Evidence 01," which he claimed was an extraterrestrial fossil.

Anno Domini[]

In 2188 AD, the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations space exploration ship Europa departed the Earth Sphere to undertake an eight year journey to Jupiter as part of the "Jupiter Exploration Plan." Shortly after arriving in orbit, the Europa was said to have suffered an accident, and the vessel and crew was thought to be lost and the mission a failure. This tragedy would be known publicly as the "Jupiter Incident." The accident was merely a cover story, however, for the crew of the Europa were clandestinely in league with Celestial Being, and they spent the next twenty years in Jovian orbit researching to develop the GN Drive. The immense gravity of Jupiter was necessary to the creation of a true GN Drive, and five functional GN Drives were completed and sent back to Earth on unmanned vessels before everyone on board was killed and the vessel was scuttled to ensure secrecy. In 2225 the wreckage of the Europa would be explored by a private expedition, funded by the Corner Family, and they would return with a purple Haro. The data recovered from that Haro would enable the Corners to create their pseudo-GN Drives.

Some time in 2312 Celestial Being engineers return to Jupiter to begin creating new GN Drives. They succeed in creating two new GN Drives to be linked together to power the GNT-0000 00 Qan[T]​. The metallic alien ELS had also begun to accumulate at Jupiter, and when their scouts discovered the derelict Europa they assimilate it and begin to travel to Earth. The ELS send a signal back to their main colony, creating a supermassive gravitational field within Jupiter's Big Red Spot. The increased mass pulls the moons Io and Ganymede into the planet, destroying them, and collapse Jupiter's ring. The swarm of the ELS emerging from the Great Red Spot was so numerous they formed a ring of alien life around Jupiter, converging into an enormous moon-sized mass, which began traveling towards Earth.

Post Disaster[]

The Teiwaz consortium operates out of the Jupiter Sphere, from the interplanetary vessel Saisei.

References[]



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