Crusader

Crusader (Stanton II, called "Cl" by the natives) is a low-mass gas giant that has an atmosphere which is breathable at high altitudes. It has a diameter of 14900 km plus 1200 km of atmosphere.

Taking advantage of this, the planet became home to a military-constructed latticework of inhabitable floating platforms. The platforms proved to be ideal for Crusader Industries, since their large-scale commercial transport ships would otherwise need to be built beyond the atmosphere. Being built in open air allows the cost of these ships to be reduced by almost 40% on the back end, which is often passed along to consumers.

Once Crusader Industries took over, these platforms were expanded upon to suit their production needs. The company also built quality housing for their employees in habitats woven into the latticework itself. The portion of the world available to visitors is considered by many to be the nicest port in the system. The shipyards themselves are eerily beautiful, with huge transport ships suspended in mid-atmosphere surrounded by a lighted webbing of Crusader facilities.

"I find that living in the heavens suits me."

- Kanile Yuder, Former CEO, Crusader Industries

Jurisdiction
Like all corporation-owned planets in the Stanton system, Crusader has its own jurisdiction and security in the form of Crusader Security.

Orison
A city in the clouds, Orison offers a breathtaking view of Crusader's commercial shipbuilding platforms.

Minor Locations
Various floating platform communities spread around Crusader are set to debut in a future update, including:


 * Cloudrest Retreat
 * Empyrean Park
 * Prospect Point

Natural satellites
Crusader's moons are named after the three siblings featured in the 24th century children's morality tale A Gift for Baba.

ICC ScanHub Stanton
Part of the Imperial Cartography Center, this research station is categorized as a Deep Space Scanning and AstroGraphical Station, one of the many turn-key facilities the UEE places in systems to casually sweep for jump points. Players likely know it as the workplace of the mission-giver, Junior Cartographer Tessa Bannister. This station along with Bannister and her quest line was removed from the game in Alpha 3.0, but the devs have confirmed its eventual return.

Lagrangian points
Crusader has 5 lagrangian points, which contain mostly planetary debris and asteroids. Some contain Rest Stop stations.

Gallery
Orbit 3.14+=

Orbit 3.0-3.13=

Orbit 2.x=

High atmosphere=

Development
Crusader, along with its moons, were implemented with the first launch of the Persistent Universe, Alpha 2.0. From that point on, these celestial bodies were only placeholder objects in the Persistent Universe, and were inaccessible to players. It wasn't until version 3.0 when the Planetary Tech was implemented that the moons would be replaced by traversable versions. However, the gas giant Crusader was never replaced and remained inaccessible until Alpha 3.14 was released. This patch saw the release of Planetary volumetric clouds, which allowed them to create the 'new' Crusader, and also included the Orison landing zone situated within the clouds. In the succeeding patch of Alpha 3.15, Port Olisar also started to orbit the planet, finally unlocking it from its fixed position in the system.

Trivia

 * The small celestial objects orbiting Crusader follow a discovery date naming convention similar to real life asteroids. Furthermore, the names imply that at least 1603 such objects have been discovered, and that the sale of Stanton II to Crusader Industries by the UEE took place between 2913 and 2921.
 * The name Crusader Industries actually has two meanings. First, it represents a commitment to stay on the forefront of ship manufacturing ideas. Though the company got its start building reliable planetary shuttles. The teams of engineers constantly looked to push the commercial ship market, whether it was by developing a new feat of engineering or simply looking to fulfill a new area of public demand. Secondly, the name references the company's commitment to vigorously advocate for what is morally right across the Empire. Company founder August Dunlow has made giving back a cornerstone of the company ever since its inception in 2799.
 * Compared to real-life planets, Crusader's in-game size is only slightly larger than Earth.