Launched in 2090, the ELRIC Satellite, the acronym standing for Exoatmospheric Lidar Radar and Interplanetary Coordination, was launched by the fledgling Sierra Space Systems corporation. As a precursor to its future KKV-class satellites, the ELRIC was designed to fulfil another niche in the arsenal of hopeful exoatmospheric powers, such as Russia, founding colonies on Mars, the European Union who had staked claims on the moons of Jupiter, and the joint US/Japanese establishment of a lunar colony. In such a climate, the ELRIC would fill the role of surveillance satellite - despite its name, it would be equipped with a wide range of gear, including high-resolution thermal and infrared photography, the titular LDAR and Radar, among others, with a "secure" uplink to a ground-based stationary