Mercury

Mercury is the first planet to the Sun and is a major mining outpost and solar observatory. The entire planet is a Cascade Federation colony though only the poles are permanently inhabited. In this same region a massive Sapient2 colony was discovered, a major mining colony. Mercury formed around 4.54 billion years ago, shortly after was impacted by another large object creating Mercury's huge iron core. It was colonized on 2067. Currently, Mercury houses 1 million miners and 20,000 scientists, with an additional thousand in orbit.