Challenge Systems

Challenge Systems is a JumpShip manufacturer located in the Federated Suns.

Overview
In 2537 Challenge Systems launched a legal case against DeKirk Aerospace and the government of the Terran Hegemony. The Hegemony Armed Forces had decided in 2536 that they needed to replace the Quixote-class frigate, and DeKirk Aerospace had submitted an impressive paper design for a new frigate, the Congress. The lawsuit from Challenge Systems claimed that the bulk of the design for the Congress was actually a Challenge Systems design, acquired by DeKirk Aerospace through industrial espionage. The legal case spent three years in the courts before a compromise settlement was reached; neither the government of the Hegemony or DeKirk Aerospace made any admission of guilt, but Challenge Systems was made a partner in the construction of the new Congress class. The Federated Suns also received a discount price on a variant of the Congress that lacked the advanced sensors and other sensitive Hegemony systems, but with additional weaponary installed. The resulting design was considered a success by the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns.

Formerly a publicly traded company, Challenge Systems became a privately held-company in 3018. Poor management and equipment breakdowns put the company deeply in debt, with rumors of bankruptcy. Rather than let the company fail, the federal government stepped in and took control of the company. The takeover was approved because the Federated Suns government was Challenge's largest creditor. Exact details about the takeover are unavailable, but it looks like the next fifteen years saw many improvements to the manufacturing lines. During that decade and a half, Challenge only provided maintenance and repair services from its repair yard located at Panpour's zenith jump point. In 3032 the Federated Suns government allowed control of the company to pass into private hands, but the company hasn't been producing a large volume of new JumpShips. The amount of supplies and components ordered by the company exceed the known production. This has in turn led to speculation that the company has been building a secret fleet of JumpShips and WarShips for the Federated Suns.

Challenge Systems produces the Monolith class JumpShip for various military and commercial groups in the Federated Suns. During the chaos of the Jihad the Panpour facility lost nearly a quarter of its factory lines and staff, but by 3079 the factory was operating at 85% of its pre-Jihad output.

Several persistent rumors suggested that Challenge Systems had another secret production line located somewhere in the Federated Suns, but these rumors remain unconfirmed as of 3079.

Leadership
In 3067 the company's CEO is Duke Deniss Sona.

Manufacturing
Challenge Systems has manufacturing centers on the following planets: