Editing First Belt Ice-Hauler Convoy (section)

=== Ice dependency in the inner belt ===

By the early 2060s CE, the industrial stations of the inner Asteroid belt had grown reliant on steady deliveries of processed water-ice from Luna-based and near-belt sources. The Vesta Foundry Platform, one of the largest manufacturing installations in the belt at that time, required ice shipments for coolant cycling, electrolysis oxygen supply, and crew consumption. The Shackleton Ice Mining Cooperative, operating from Shackleton Rim Station at Luna's south pole since 2029 CE, had established a loose supply relationship with Vesta as early as 2058 CE, though no formal lane agreements existed.

The wider inner system remained loosely governed during this period. The [[First Sustained Mars Surface Missions]] of 2031 CE had demonstrated that sustained human presence beyond Earth orbit was viable, but the legal frameworks for regulating interplanetary freight routes lagged badly behind operational reality. No equivalent of the later [[Ceres Charter Compact]] — signed in 2188 CE — yet existed to adjudicate competing transit claims.