Spacecraft, 2000-2100 A.D.: Terran Trade Authority Handbook

Here at last is the comprehensive, all-color guide to the major spacecraft of the last century, 2,000-2,100 AD, the time of the great advances in space technology that followed the first, hesitant steps of the late 1900s.

Primarily an identification manual, it examines the 40 major types of craft operating during the period, including those of the inhabited systems of Alpha and Proxima Centauri, giving details of their development and operational history, and charts of their technical specifications. The book is divided into sections covering Military, Civil and Commercial, and Special Function, and the craft range from sleek interceptors through specialized research vessels to private yachts, while there is also a small section of unidentified space vehicles discovered under various circumstances, and still shrouded with mystery.

The individual stories of these craft are set against the historical background which created them. New industrial techniques and resources led to more advanced ships which opened the door to further possibilities in an accelerating spiral of development.

Contact with other inhabitants of our galaxy in 2036 AD led to an era of war and peace, industry and innovation, during which the greatest advances in space engineering ever made produced a fascinating array of hardware.