The Dispersal Project,[1] later known as the Great Expansion,[2] was the effort by the Ministry of Colonization to spread the human species throughout the universe so it would no longer be bound to a single planet.[1]
Overview[]
Ender in Exile[]
The surviving ships of the Third Invasion fleet were the first humans to colonize the Formic worlds.
Immediately following the end of the Third Invasion, the surviving foot soldiers on Formic planets began the process of colonization. The remaining International Fleet ships were sent among the planets to augment the colonization efforts with men and supplies.[1]
After the Ministry of Colonization was established, they began a formalized process of sending human colony transports to those planets. The first ship sent out, IFcoltrans1, carried Ender Wiggin and his sister Valentine. The ship headed to Shakespeare, where Ender was designated to be governor.[1]
This expansion from the Solar System continued for many years, with planets like Pacifica, Ganges, and Divine Wind being settled.[2] However, some planets refused to receive colonists from Earth, like Colony IX, instead opting to remain entirely independent of their homeworld.[1]
The Minister of Colonization, Hyrum Graff, saw the Dispersal Project as successful by around 40 AX.[1]
Outcome[]
Xenocide[]
By around the year 3150 AX, hundreds of planets had been colonized by humans. The time period of settlement became known as the Great Expansion.[2]