[b]Ship Name:[/b] AstroCore Interstellar Vehicle New Dawn IC-0001 aka [i]A.C.I.V. New Dawn[/i] (commonly referred to simply as [i]New Dawn[/i] )

[b]Description:[/b] 
The [i]New Dawn[/i] is ship funded, built, and manned entirely by the command of AstroCore, a major private space corporation based out of the United States. AstroCore agreed to lend many of its construction facilities so that other fleet vessels could be built permitted that AstroCore could construct it's own and man it in however AstroCore saw fit. However, AstroCore had never built a ship like this (nor had any other private company up to that point[1]), and the governments that had designs would not give them to AstroCore. The process of making [i]New Dawn[/i] was therefore a very hurried process, with construction beginning in 2265 and being completed in 2070, with [i]New Dawn[/i] only barely meeting the deadline of ships to join the fleet. The ship was designated to be a part of AstroCore's new [i]Dawnbringer[/i]-Class of ships and was given the Interstellar Code of "0001".

AstroCore is one of the most prominent space corporations. Founded in 2079 as a lunar mining venture by Gabriel L. Hale I, Hale quickly developed a base on the Moon that was soon one of the major cities of the body. AstroCore got its start in colonization when it began offering hotel stays on the moon. By 2100 they expanded into colonizing efforts of Mars and by 2120 they began to mine the asteroid belt. When Gabriel L. Hale Junior took over the business after his father's passing in 2148, he quickly made efforts to buy out many competitors. This led to AstroCore having everything from mining bases on the Moon and in the Asteroid and Kuiper Belt to being at the forefront of non-governmental colonization of Mars to funding research bases on the Galilean Moons to even owning a mercenary group (the Nightingale Group). Since then, it has been one of the crucial corporations in creating an interplanetary infrastructure connecting the Sol System together.

[i]A.C.I.V. New Dawn[/i] was a very ambitious project for AstroCore (a company that had never gone further than the Kuiper Belt by purely its own efforts) but it started with creating plans for a new Class of ship, which in time would come to be known as [i]Dawnbringer[/i]. These [i]Dawnbringer[/i] ships can be thought of as two separate ships, an outer and an inner ship.

The "outer ship" of a [i]Dawnbringer[/i]-Class vessel is built out of a comet 2km long and 1km wide. It is hollowed out (for the inner ship), with two hangers for its guard ships on two opposite sides and two antimatter-fusion propulsion systems on the other two sides. Along the comet are also smaller fusion engines to allow the entire craft to rotate (to simulate gravity) and to adjust course. The inner ship is "loaded" into the outer ship via an opening in the back of the comet, and it can leave the same way. Within the two hangers are two [i]Vanguard[/i]-Class ships used for the defense of the vessel if it were to come under attack.

The "inner ship" of a [i]Dawnbringer[/i]-Class vessel is made of a ring of eight bays linked together as well as a core, which houses the Bridge as well as it's own, triple fusion engine (capable of getting up to a significant fraction of the speed of light by itself). The bays are where housing, agriculture, storage, etc. are located. Each bay is 775m long and the diameter of the ship from two bays across from each other is 800m and between them have plasma shield generators capable of protecting the ship from most projectile damage. Along the outside of each bay (the bottom, if you are standing in it due to artificial gravity simulation) are seven [i]Phoenix[/i]-Class ships that are designed to go from orbit down to a planet (with a maximum tested gravity being that of Earth) or to enter orbit and dock again from that planet's surface. Along the front of the craft are docking mechanisms for the two [i]Vanguard[/i]-Class ships.

[i]Vanguard[/i]-Class ships are manned by a crew of between 12 and 20 (but can be manned by as few as four in emergencies). They have been in use (only being updated from time to time) since 2231 and are AstroCore's default guard ship (used to protect any important cargo and also used by the Nightingale Group). While not capable of setting down on any astronomical body (except in a dire emergency, and then it usually cannot leave), it has escape pods that would allow it's entire crew make their way to a planet if need be. [i]Vanguard[/i]-Class ships are outfitted with several different size high impact (non explosive) weapons systems (including a small outfit capable of attacking a planet), but will in large part rely on laser weaponry situated around the craft. They are roughly 200m long by 100m wide with their own shielding system.

[i]Phoenix[/i]-Class ships are for orbit-to-surface or surface-to-orbit travel and are capable of holding up to 60 passengers as well as a small outfit of cargo or a large shipment of cargo (depending on how it has been set up). They have been in use since 2254, but the 56 that [i]New Dawn[/i] has were especially designed for their mission. Among these improvements are ship to ship docking capabilities.

[hider=Pictures]
[img=http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/II-Vessel-Characteristics.jpg]
Think this for the "inner ship" of [i]Dawnbringer[/i]-Class ships.

[img=http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f5/07/90/f50790bf14be826cdc6f729a21c90f7e.jpg]
Think this for [i]Vanguard[/i]-Class ships.

Think [url=http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Valkyrie]this[/url] for [i]Phoenix[/i]-Class ships.[/hider]

[b]Population:[/b] approx. 12,000

[b]Description:[/b] 90+% American (about 10% from Canada or the E.U.)
1200 - Military/Security Personal (from the Nightingale Group)
1800 - Scientists/Engineers
1000 - Medical Professionals
8000 - Other Settlers[2]
[i](The above are estimates and not meant to be taken as exact counts)[/i]

[b]Captain Name:[/b] Captain Marcus W. Hale
[b]Description:[/b] The son of Gabriel L. Hale V, he was only 16 when the settler fleet departed on it's journey. He practically forced his father into allowing him to go, with the ultimate intention of leading the colony. He spent the majority of his time being trained by the Nightingale Group for his position of Captain (which he only took up in 2092) and is largely considered one of them, earning him much loyalty among them. He is a tall man at 6'4" with an average build, with dark brown hair he keeps cut nicely and blue eyes.

[b]Other Notable Individuals:[/b]
[b]Commander James Calvin:[/b] Although technically a Captain by rank, protocol demands that, aboard a vessel, only its commander is addressed as Captain. Despite this, he is the leader of the Nightingale Group aboard the vessel, and is a close adviser to Captain Hale. He is an older man (for being on the frontier), at 62, but in good condition. He stands at the average height for an American male at 6'1", with military cut blonde hair and grey eyes, and a large, muscular frame.
WIP - More to Come Later

[1] - I'm imagining the furthest out any private company has gone is the Kuiper Belt.
[2] - Mostly families but also teachers and other professions important in starting a colony.