CSA member corporations fall into two distinct categories: voting sponsors and contributing sponsors. Voting sponsors are the most powerful and influential corporations in the Sector, if not the galaxy. Each one has a permanent seat on the CSA's Direx Board and receives the best discounts on Authority raw materials and services. To become a voting sponsor requires a significant investment in the Authority. The original voting sponsors each paid over fifty quadrillion credits worth of currency, equipment, facilities, stocks and bonds.