In the 2060s, the US American starship SS Valiant discovered a habitable planet with no intelligent life in the vicinity of 61 Cygni A, circa 11 lightyears from Earth. This inspired the chief minister of the Trade Council of Earth, Davida Rossi to launch the "Great Experiment", a project to establish Earth's first extrasolar colony. The construction process took three years. (ST reference: Federation: The First 150 Years)