Espoir Station was tasked with studying Gravity's End, the only known example of a proto-universe phenomenon. In the late 2260s, the station was under the command of Doctor James Munroe, a native of New Texas on Earth. During his administration, he agreed to have Espoir become the headquarters of a superweapon project led by Ies Bredell, a Vardaine scientist who sought to use the enormous power of Gravity's End to destroy the Federation.