A Martian-moon network before the surface colony

This time note gives the stream's clearest architecture for reaching Mars at scale. Lunar facilities build or support the larger interplanetary ships, after which a Martian moon becomes the control and maintenance hub. That hub also supports quarantine, asteroid mining, communications satellites, and a positioning network for surface activity. The surface base follows only after this infrastructure exists, because dust, radiation, remote-control delays, and the need for precise landings make a tent-style arrival inadequate.