Once it was clear that our planet wouldn't be able to survive for long, the biggest economies in the world united to work on the UTOPIA project: building a spaceship, the ISS UTOPIA, that would look for exoplanets potentially capable of hosting human life.
The word "UTOPIA" refers to a “perfect society in which everyone works well with each other and is happy”. By 2059, the world was the opposite to an utopia. That’s why when it was clear that the planet had a few decades left, the effort done by the biggest economies of the world to cooperate and to build a space station able to look for other habitable planets reminded them of that word, utopia. This project brought the best of everyone, and that’s why that name was chosen for the space station.
The ISS UTOPIA is formed by several rings that rotate to create artificial gravity using centripetal force, something essential for long space exploring, as zero gravity is really dangerous for the body. Most of the energy comes from solar panels, and a nuclear fusion reactor when needed for the journey in between solar systems. It has basic machines for survival: an oxygenator, a water recovery system and a water generator. The ship is protected against most types of radiation, abundant in space, as there is no atmosphere to protect it. It also has an hydroponic farm, to grow different types of plants, and artificial protein synthetizers, that ellaborate something like “artificial meat”.
This ship is prepared for journeys of many years. Thanks to the nuclear fusion reactor it can reach really high speeds. The quest to look for habitable exoplanets begins now. The first candidates that will be explored are the closest ones to our solar system: The planets from the Alpha Centauri System and the Trappist System.