First Landing

Fictional record. This page describes a mine from a fictional setting, not a real place. Information is based on the cited canon, with adaptations and interpretation distinguished where necessary. It is kept separate from the real MineArchive corpus — see Fictional.

Overview

A lithium-mining settlement founded on the exoplanet Ilus by Belter refugees fleeing Ganymede, sited specifically over a rich vein of lithium close to the surface — a valuable trading commodity once humanity gained access to other systems through the ring gates. Its residents' claim to the planet was disputed by Royal Charter Energy, which held official United Nations settlement rights and sent its own research and colony ship to assert them, precipitating a conflict that only planetary catastrophe, and an uneasy reconciliation between the two sides, brought to an end.

History

Belters who had fled Ganymede used the newly opened ring gates to reach Ilus and founded First Landing there ahead of any UN licensing process, choosing the site because the planet's lithium deposit ran closest to the surface at that location. The United Nations subsequently granted official settlement and exploitation rights over the whole planet to Royal Charter Energy, which had never set foot there, and dispatched the research vessel Edward Israel — carrying a scientific team led by Elvi Okoye to study the planet's untouched alien biosphere, and a security detachment under Adolphus Murtry — to make good on that claim. RCE treated the existing Belter colonists as squatters; the colonists, led in part by Basia Merton, refused to accept that framing of their own settlement. The confrontation escalated toward violence — Murtry's security detail resorted to lethal force, and Basia sabotaged the landing pad built for RCE's incoming shuttles — before an entirely separate catastrophe overtook both sides: an extinction-level explosion on the far side of the planet triggered a nuclear winter-like weather pattern of constant rain, and activated a dormant alien orbital defence network that shot down powered shuttles and disabled ship reactors, stranding everyone already on the ground. Survivors on both sides then faced a toxic worm infestation and a fungal growth that caused blindness, forcing Belters and RCE personnel into cooperation neither side had wanted. In the aftermath, Basia and Elvi chose to stay and rebuild First Landing together, and the demonstrated viability of the settlement helped trigger a much wider wave of human migration out through the ring gates to other systems.

Workings

Built directly over a lithium vein identified as running unusually close to the planet's surface at that specific site — the reason the location was chosen for settlement in the first place, rather than any other point on Ilus.

Closure

Not permanently abandoned: the settlement and the wider human presence on Ilus survived the planetary catastrophe described above, though under a changed, uneasy joint arrangement between the original Belter colonists and RCE's people rather than either side's sole control.

What became of it

Rebuilt after the catastrophic events of Cibola Burn by the surviving Belter and RCE colonists together; its success became a visible proof that extrasolar colonisation through the ring gates was viable, contributing to the much larger human migration that follows in the rest of the series.

Recorded claims

Each claim is marked with its basis — explicit canon, MineArchive inference, adaptation only, or fandom interpretation — and attached to the source(s) below. Where tellings disagree, both are kept.

• Belter refugees from Ganymede founded First Landing on Ilus specifically because a rich vein of lithium ran closest to the planet's surface at that site. (explicit canon)
• The United Nations granted official settlement and exploitation rights over the planet to Royal Charter Energy, which sent the Edward Israel, carrying scientists led by Elvi Okoye and a security detachment under Adolphus Murtry, to assert that claim against the Belter colonists already there. (explicit canon)
• Conflict between the two sides escalated toward lethal violence and sabotage before an unrelated extinction-level explosion elsewhere on the planet triggered severe weather and activated a dormant alien orbital defence system, stranding both factions and forcing them into survival cooperation. (explicit canon)
• Basia Merton and Elvi Okoye chose to remain and rebuild First Landing jointly; the settlement's survival helped demonstrate that extrasolar colonisation through the ring gates was viable, contributing to a wider subsequent wave of human migration. (explicit canon)

Sources

1. (interpretation) Cibola Burn — Wikipedia
2. (interpretation) The Expanse (novel series) — Wikipedia

Record created: 26 August 2026 · Last researched: 26 August 2026