The Alterra Corporation, or simply Alterra, is a Trans-Gov that funded the Aurora's mission to construct a phasegate in the Ariadne Arm and owns 9% of phasegates within the galaxy.It also appears to be the manufacturer of many machines and tools in-game, as its logo is on many of them.
Despite being legally recognized as a Trans-Gov, Alterra considers itself a corporation. Its corporate structure is made up of an elected board of directors that appoints the overall CEO, appoints the CEOs of major subsidiaries, and makes major economic decisions. Alterra Corporation is made up of millions of smaller companies that are partially or fully owned by Alterra. The corporation makes money off these companies and in return provides expensive services such as starship production. More successful companies' CEOs have a shot at the board of directors. Employees for Alterra are entitled to a one-time share in the Alterra Corporation to afford payments of the Alterra dividend. An exception to these rules are contractors, who are paid by Alterra but are not strictly employees.
Alterra is heavily involved in the arms trade and made substantial amounts of money supplying weaponry to all warring factions during the period known as the Expansion. Their threats to cut off these supplies are said to have been a turning point in the conflict. Today, they are the top supplier to the Trans-System Federation. Alterra does not maintain a standing military, though they do have a police force. Civilian ownership of weapons within Alterra space is strictly controlled, with only the police able to bear arms.
Alterra is rather strict with policies related to resources, even keeping employees "on the clock" after catastrophic accidents. All resources gathered by such employees are company property and Alterra expects to be reimbursed for their full market value after the fact: in the case of Ryley Robinson, this led to a trillion-credit bill.
The Aurora was a brand-new Alterra Long-Range Capital Ship (and possibly the first of its class) sent to the Ariadne Arm by the Alterra Corporation to build a phasegate. Its auxiliary mission, unknown to most of the crew, was an agreement made with the Mongolian Independent States to search for and possibly rescue the survivors of the Degasi crew. It was thought that the ship's advanced scanning suite, superior to any ship that had previously made a search effort, would have better luck in finding the crew, or finally confirm whatever fate had befallen them.
During a gravity slingshot maneuver around Planet 4546B, the Quarantine Enforcement Platform struck the Aurora with an energy pulse on the starboard (right) side, resulting in catastrophic hull failure and leading to it crash landing on the surface of the planet. All the starboard Lifepods were compromised if not outright destroyed by the energy pulse; most of the port side lifepods that did launch (pods 1 to 25) were compromised except for Lifepod 5, which contained Ryley Robinson, and Lifepod 4, though it was heavily damaged when a Reaper Leviathan tried to eat it and possibly caused it to eventually become overturned, and other Lifepods whos occupants met other fates. Moments after Lifepod 5 launched, Ryley heard the enforcement platform fire and witnessed a second energy pulse strike the already crippled ship.
Upon crashing, the Aurora plowed into the terrain, unearthing it and leaving small sand hills around the ship, resulting in huge quantities of Metal Salvage and Supply Crates being dispersed within the vicinity of the ship, providing useful materials such as Food & Water, batteries, and Titanium. Multiple Reaper Leviathans patrol the crash site.
By the time the player awakens and begins his exploration of the area, all of the other Lifepods have been destroyed and their occupants have vanished. After the Aurora's Drive Core explodes, blowing the bow of the ship. After that, its wreckage is surrounded by Radiation and is unapproachable without a Radiation Suit. While quite dangerous and far out, the player can visit the Aurora early in-game before it explodes, although multiple tools are needed to properly explore the ship.
The Aurora is located on the far eastern edge of the map, with its bow facing north and its stern facing south. It is visible from the surface nearly anywhere on the map, making it a useful landmark, especially if the player lacks a compass. The ship is approximately 1,280 meters long from nose to thrusters. Including parts normally hidden by the terrain, it stands to be about 500 meters tall.
Of all crewmembers on board the Aurora, the only known survivor was Ryley Robinson, who later managed to escape the planet. Alterra later admited the ship's loss and informed about the rescue of its "survivors", but censored any details about how the ship had crashed and why.