Long before megastructures, a maturing civilization fills near-orbit with machines. Constellations of thousands of satellites knit the planet together, watch its climate and weather, and lay the groundwork for orbital industry and power.
It marks the moment a species stops being purely planet-bound: the sky becomes worked space, the staging ground for the orbital belts, collector shells and elevators of the full Type I climb.
The model shows the satellite layer at the opening rung of the Type I progression — multiple orbital planes of craft circling the world.
It is a dense network of satellites in low orbit providing communications, observation, navigation and early orbital power — the first layer of space infrastructure on the way to a Type I civilization.
