Premise: The Stargates of the TV series are real, and lead to hundreds of habitable worlds. It is decided that we will begin colonization. Other nations and regional groups (China, India, EU, African Bloc, SA Block, etc) will be given their own set of worlds to colonize under their own authority.
Initial survey has been carried out to determine that these worlds are reasonably safe, stable and friendly to human life.
Phase 1: Initial Colonization. This is the most primitive phase of just getting people on the ground. Colonists must be largely self-sufficient and can only take what they can push, pull or carry. A single base (read: village) will be set up that, because of pressing needs of dozens of colonies, will probably only have contact with Earth about once a month or less, for the purposes of resuply of vital materials. Survey teams will go in and colonists have the option to claim pre-set surveyed plots of up to 100 or 1000 hectares (depending on the site terrain), or to wander off-res, so to speak and claim their own lands beyond the initial site.
During this phase, expected to last as long as 20 years, GPS and weather satellites will be put in place. Resource and climate surveys conducted as well as full planetary exploration. You may chose to participate in this or remain on your little patch of settlement.
Phase 2: 10-20 years down the line. Large scale colonization. Sites have been selected and some gates may have been moved to better on-world sites for the new cities to be built from scratch.
The Chinese have requested a several month loan of the gate in order to move 100 million peasants en-masse to their chosen primary colony. The Indians are contemplating the same.
Some worlds have been relegated to semi-primitive “backpacker” status. Perhaps due to lack of exploitable resources, perhaps due to unsuitable or unstable climates, maybe just because we discover that they’re too far off the beaten track space wise.
Some worlds have been delegated by the UN as havens for certain persecuted minoroty sects and ethnic groups that have never had their own homelands. One world is being divided into approximately 40 different zones for this purposes.
Ships have arrived and are beginning to survey the rest of those planetary systems and the nearby (non-network) star systems.
It’s a heady time, with Humanity very focused on the whole idea of moving so many people “to the stars”.
Phase 3: 30+ years down the line.
At least a dozen worlds now have a single city rather well developed and are looking to expand. Ships have been built to conduct non-gate trade between a couple of worlds that are close enough together, and search for off-network worlds and resources.
Question: Would you be interested in taking part in this process, and if so, at what point and in what way?
For my own part, even though I’m a bit older and don’t have a lot of the skills they’d need for the big work, I’d be quite happy to become a “backpacker” and, preferably in association with a few other individuals, set forth onto one of these new worlds. The real key for me being that, since it’s not a one-way ship expedition, in the event of “issues”, I could always theoretically return to Earth.
If I was a young person straight out of college at any one of these points of colonization, then there would be no question, I’m going. Preferably as one of the initial surveyers, or as part of a ship crew.