The Expanse is set approximately three and a half centuries from now, in a solar system that humanity has colonised extensively but not entirely peacefully. Earth remains the most populous world, governed by the United Nations. Mars has achieved independence and maintains a disciplined military culture built around the dream of terraforming. Between the two inner planets and beyond, the asteroid belt and outer planet stations are home to the Belters, a population that has adapted physically and culturally to life in low gravity, and whose political relationship with the inner planets is defined by economic exploitation and growing resentment.
This fragile three-way tension forms the backdrop against which something entirely unexpected is discovered. A substance of alien origin, the protomolecule, is found on Phoebe station and subsequently released on the asteroid Eros. What it does there, and what it is building toward, begins to pull the entire solar system into a crisis that no existing political framework is equipped to handle. The discovery raises questions that dwarf every ongoing conflict: who made the protomolecule, what were they building, and why did they disappear?
The answers, when they come, change everything. The Ring Gates open access to over a thousand star systems simultaneously, ending the era of a humanity confined to one sun. What follows is a record of colonisation, conflict, the rise of new powers, and eventually a confrontation with whatever destroyed the civilisation that built the rings in the first place. The Expanse timeline is one of the most carefully constructed in science fiction, running from approximately 2350 to 2375 across nine novels and six television seasons.
A substance of alien origin is found on Phoebe station and subsequently deployed on the asteroid Eros. The discovery sets in motion a chain of events that will reshape the entire solar system.
Open record →A violent incident on Ganymede, Jupiter's moon and a critical food production centre, reveals that the protomolecule is being studied and weaponised. The political situation between Earth and Mars deteriorates sharply.
Open record →A vast structure assembled beyond the orbit of Uranus activates and opens stable transit gates to over 1,300 star systems. For the first time, humanity has access to interstellar space.
Open record →The planet Ilus, reached through one of the Ring Gates, becomes the site of humanity's first extra-solar colony. The settlement brings competing claims and ancient dangers hidden beneath the surface.
Open record →A Belter faction launches a coordinated strike on Earth using redirected asteroids. The attack causes catastrophic damage to the planet's surface and fundamentally alters the balance of power across the solar system.
Open record →The Free Navy's campaign ends and a new political structure begins to take shape, with the Belt seeking a more equitable arrangement with the inner planets. The aftermath of the asteroid strikes continues to reshape Earth.
Open record →A Martian faction that passed through the Ring Gates years earlier returns with warships of unprecedented capability. The empire they have built behind the gates now asserts authority over all of humanity.
Open record →An underground resistance movement challenges Laconian occupation while a deeper threat, the same force that destroyed the Ring Gate builders, begins to stir again. The two crises converge in ways that neither side anticipated.
Open record →The concluding events of the series bring the long-running conflict with the alien threat to a resolution that determines the future of humanity and the Ring Gate network connecting over a thousand star systems.
Open record →Q: What is The Expanse timeline in order?
Protomolecule discovered, Eros incident (approx. 2350) → protomolecule weaponised, Ganymede incident (approx. 2352) → Ring Gates open (approx. 2355) → first colony on Ilus (approx. 2356) → Free Navy attacks Earth (approx. 2358) → Free Navy defeated, new political order (approx. 2360) → Laconian Empire emerges (approx. 2370) → Laconian occupation resisted, alien threat reawakens (approx. 2372) → final confrontation with the alien threat (approx. 2375).
Q: What year is The Expanse set in?
The Expanse begins approximately in 2350, roughly three and a half centuries from now. The story spans around 25 years across its nine books and six television seasons, concluding around 2375.
Q: When do the Ring Gates open in The Expanse?
The Ring Gates open in approximately 2355, during the events of the third book and television season, Abaddon's Gate. The gates provide access to over 1,300 star systems and fundamentally change the political and strategic situation for all of humanity.