Common Core:Nanotrasen
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The big cheese themselves, Nanotrasen is a very, very large and important company. A company so large, in fact, that at least half a century has passed since it became large enough to receive a charter from TerraGov to form its own expeditionary fleets and establish its own settlements outside the Sol system.
From A Simple Start: Nanotrasen from 1963 to the 2010s
Founded in 1963 in the city of Fresno by Michael Trasen and Dale Knox, Trasen-Knox Computing (as it was known at the time) would get its start producing scientific computers for academia. Trasen-Knox computers quickly gained a reputation for quality and reliability, and the company would gain a decent market share with American and Canadian universities over the coming decade. Trasen-Knox would also work closely with NASA in producing equipment for the space race- giving them an early start in Humanity’s push to the stars.
With the introduction of the microprocessor in the early 1970s, the world of computers became accessible to the masses via the introduction of the personal computer. Seizing on the opportunity to expand their horizons, Trasen-Knox would introduce their first personal computer, the TKC Personal Computer, in 1978, becoming a household name as well as the favourite computer producer of scientific groups in North America. However, by the early 90s, as computers became smaller and technology more compact, Trasen-Knox saw the need to create more of a recognisable brand. They would officially change their name to Nanotrasen in 1995, and the name would stick for the company. By 1998, Dale Knox would leave Nanotrasen for health reasons, leaving the company under the sole leadership of Michael Trasen.
By the early 2000s, Nanotrasen had long observed the computer gaming industry since its inception during the 1980s, and in 2005 would finally make their own entry into the market via the Nanoplay: the world’s first game console with built-in internet connectivity capabilities, bringing the gamers of the world together. In 2008, Nanotrasen would buy out and merge with the Wulfe Group, a German company known for their manufacture of industrial equipment. Rebranding the company as Nanotrasen Heavy Industry (or NTHI), this would be Nanotrasen’s first step towards new horizons beyond computing. In a series of purchases, Nanotrasen would expand its range of products considerably, acquiring a chemical and oil subsidiary in Texas Chemical (now Nanotrasen Chemical Supply), a consumer goods subsidiary in Seowon Appliances (now Nanotrasen Consumer Goods)
Nanotrasen in 2564
Primarily an advanced research and development conglomerate, but also has skin in many other fields. While a great deal of their income still comes from producing public research funded by government research grants, their operations also include directly producing and selling their most profitable designs, leasing their asset protection forces to governments and private organizations (both space fleets and ground troops), logistics management with a specialization in remote settlement self-sufficiency, and maintaining interstellar communication infrastructures to name a few. The common theme that runs through most of their business ventures is taking the lessons they've learned from operating on such a massive scale and helping smaller organizations stretch themselves.
As large and powerful as they are, Nanotrasen's future standing is still shaky and uncertain as they double down further on their Spinward settlements. Their decision to expand out Spinward on their own came during the dawn of TerraGov's efforts to begin scouting out and colonizing Alpha Centauri (Trailward of Sol, in the opposite direction of SS13), and the opportunity cost involved with breaking from TerraGov's expansion has been sizable.