Vesta Station
Overview
Vesta Station is the belt’s second-largest settlement, built into the asteroid Vesta. With a population of approximately 95,000, it’s more industrial and more working-class than Ceres – known for its shipyards, repair facilities, and a significant belt-born population that’s never seen Earth. Where Ceres is corporate headquarters, Vesta is the shop floor.
Structure and Layout
- Primary habitat: Partially excavated interior with multiple connected sections
- Shipyards: Massive external construction facilities
- Processing plants: Ore refinement and manufacturing
- Worker housing: Older than Ceres, more crowded, developed through organic growth rather than planned design
Population
Vesta houses roughly 60,000 permanent residents (the majority belt-born), 25,000 rotating workers, and 10,000 shipyard specialists. There is less ethnic segregation than on Ceres – cultural blending has progressed further here.
Economy
Vesta’s economy is built on ship construction and repair, heavy manufacturing, and ore processing. It is less dependent on extraction than other stations, giving its workforce a different kind of leverage: manufacturing skills are harder to replace than mining labor.
History
Settlement began in 2125, initially focused on scientific research. The discovery of accessible volatiles led to rapid industrial development. By the 2150s, Vesta had become the belt’s manufacturing hub. Its workforce developed a distinct identity: more independent, more organized, more suspicious of corporate control. Quiet labor organizing has continued here since the 2160s.
Atmosphere
The smell of lubricant and hot metal from the machine shops. Vibration from the shipyards that travels through the entire structure. Lower-quality air filtration than Ceres – always slightly hazy. The organic geometry of excavated spaces: not designed but grown, expanded as needed over decades. Voices carry strangely through the irregular architecture.
Vesta’s workforce operates with more autonomy than their counterparts on Ceres – partly because their skills are harder to replace, partly because the station’s layout makes surveillance difficult.