Space-based Nation Name: The Ceres Independence

Territory: Their headquarters was just finished with the first phase of its development in the asteroid Ceres, in the asteroid belt. While they do have a legitimate claim on Ceres, they also like to think that the entire asteroid belt is technically theirs, since they were there first.

Government: Through a corporation-like system. Since they were a corporation based in America, that reached up into the stars, they really just kept the same thing, except declaring their independence once they were out of range of everyone else. Generally, the better a person is, the higher up they go. They are promoted based on skill and leadership ability.

Military:They have a company of soldiers that used to be US Marines and Navy Seals. And they have a couple satellites orbiting Ceres that are armed with missiles and a railgun. A couple emplacements on either side of the central tunnel into Ceres that are also armed as railgun turrets. Other than that, none. There is a space station in orbit around Earth that acts as a transfer point between Earth and the Moon, to Ceres. The Ceres Independence station [i]New Point[/i] is several hundred meters in diameter, and has several missile and railgun satellites in close proximity to the station, to prevent another nation knocking the station out of orbit or blowing it up. 

Economy: Deep-space mining, research, technology. They are the most advanced in fuel-efficiency, using a special fusion reactor for each of their 7 ships: 3 surface-to-orbit shuttles and 4 small space-freighters that act as mining ships. They have everything needed to be in space, with thrusters and much, much less bulky spacesuits, with technology that doesn't always require oxygen or gravity to work. 

History: The Ceres Independence [2030-present], which is casually referred to as the 'CI', was formerly the 'New Horizons Corporation' [2016-2030]based in Texas near the NASA facility, researching space-related stuff to go into space. The American government provided a good bit of funding before they turned into whatever else it became, and they had started building up in Ceres around 2030. Since then, shuttles have gone from great big massive things that required an ungodly amount of fuel, to ships that were only the size of an apartment building.

Other: The Ceres Independent Station [CIS] [i]New Point[/i] is a space station in orbit around Earth with 2 small construction bays for construction of shuttles, freighters, satellites, or in the future, fighters. There is also a hangar inside the station that is used for shuttles and, in the future, fighters. The station is octagonal, and utilizes an experimental artificial gravity in the central-most rooms, which include two conference rooms, the gym, the mess hall, and a storage bay.

The Ceres Base itself is all inside the asteroid by about 200 meters. The entrance is a tunnel about 50 meters in radius, to be expanded upon later, that leads into a sort of cavern-y area that is used for storage. Around that section are temporary living spaces, messhalls, research facilities, and other important facilities dug into the rock. The tunnel itself continues deeper into the asteroid, for both mining and future expansion. Several other nearby asteroids are also being mined.

There is one ship on the moon setting up a mining camp for Helium-3, which was found in abundance in that area. 

2 shuttles are used for supply runs, one is used for Earth-to-Ceres trips, and to visit or deliver items to mining groups. Freighters are used with larger equipment, and to pick up ores and other items.