Stage 1 has 4 of the 23 waypoints and covers the first 7361.55LY of the journey.
Start Point: Pallaeni
Meetup Location: Distant Worlds 3302 Tourist Beacon
Original expedition arrival date: 14/01/3302
Pallanei is an otherwise unremarkable star system on the ‘northern borders’ of the frontier. Its claim to fame arose when the DSS Beagle, (a Lakon Asp Explorer), used the system as its starting point for the first recorded galactic crossing (Dec. 16th 3300), an expedition called ‘Distant Suns’.
One year after the Beagle’s successful mission, which culminated in the discovery of the remote star system that later became known as Beagle Point, Pallaeni was chosen as the launch site for the Distant Worlds 3302 Expedition – the follow up expedition to Distant Suns, but this time involving a mass community effort. Due to this expedition, Pallaeni saw an influx of over 1,300 starships, all gathered for the launch event.
Several months after the end of the DW3302 expedition, Universal Cartographics placed the Distant Worlds 3302 Tourist beacon in the system to commemorate that historic event.
Waypoint 1/23: Fine Ring Sector JH-V c2-4 (830.95LY)
Meetup location: A 1
Original expedition arrival date: 15/01/3302
This system gives a view of The Fine Ring Nebula around the system Shapley 1.
Waypoint 2/23: NGC 6530 WFI 16706 (3,740.12LY)
Meetup location: A 1 A
Original expedition arrival date: 22/01/3302
This system is in the gorgeous Lagoon Nebula, NGC 6530. It’s huge so you can get different views from some of the surrounding systems.
Waypoint 3/23: Omega Sector EL-Y d60 (1,269.26LY)
Meetup location: 2 A
Original expedition arrival date: 23/01/3302
The stunning Omega Nebula. Again, a very large one so views change from around the local systems.
Waypoint 4/23: Eagle Sector EL-Y d203 (1,521.22LY)
Meetup location: 6 A
Original expedition arrival date: 25/01/3302
Small-medium sized nebula situated within the Sagittarius arm, approx. 7,000 LYs from Sol. The Eagle Nebula contains scores of tightly packed young F5 class stars (take a look at the galactic map around the area), making it a hotbed of scientific research for short-range exploration vessels.
This is where Stage 1 ends.