Type 9 Societies

Type-9 is the furthest a society can advance without faster-than-light travel --as such, it is the farthest that traditionally "hard" science fiction can look. While a Type-9 species could establish colonies in neighbouring solar systems (using sleeper or generation ships), without at least some form of FTL communication those colonies would be effectively cut off from the homeworld (making them independent societies).

A Type-9 society will have the technology to build (and destroy) large-scale space habitats. (Gundam AGE, 2011)

A hallmark of the Type-9 society will be the stress between genetically-engineered Augments and Naturals. While the augments will have a better position (physical, orbital, and technological superiority, as well as control of the sources of wealth), the homeworld will have a large population of desperate, indoctrinated young soldiers.

Advancement into space will trigger changes in fashion as well; spacenoid fashions will vary between practical (spacesuits and emergency gear as daily wear) and florid (ostentatious displays of wealth).

Functional (i.e., non-degenerate) generation-ships would fit here; while they have a much smaller population and footprint (essentially being a mobile habitat), they rely upon the advanced spacefaring knowledge and technology of a Type-9 society to function.

This civilization will have begun planting colonies on nearby planets, terraforming them to make them habitable. (Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, 2015)

Footprint: Multiple planets (including moons and/or space habitats, under the theory that the resources necessary to build a self-sustaining habitat are comparable to those needed to build a planetbound colony).

Sustainable Population: Hundred billions, divided among distinct "natural" and "augment" populations.

Government: Centralized republic. Colonies may be independent republics, corporate-owned oligarchies, or military stratocracies. Differentiated or synaptic hive minds would work well here.

Bureaucracy: Autonomous and impenetrable. Private corporations now function as arms of the government, and possibly as independent (colonial) governments themselves.

Language: Sophisticated, with various colony-specific dialects. Technological translation is widely available.

Literacy: Universal.

Network: Universally accessible in some form. Colonies may have separate networks, only tenuously linked to the homeworld, with varying levels of oversight (by corporations or government). An "overnetwork" is under the control of the homeworld, used to disseminate news and propaganda to all colonies.

Religion: Complex theology, which varies only subtly across multiple denominations. Political influence will probably be limited (indeed, some colonies may be established specifically as collective hermitages).

Science: Mega-engineering and planetary engineering are likely; space habitats, generation ships, and large-scale terraforming of other planets are feasible, as is mass production of large-scale mecha. Near sophont-level "post-Turing" AI is possible. Magnetic shielding, artificial gravity, antigravity, and "free-floating" holograms will likely be invented in this era. Energy manipulation technology appears and may become weaponized. Some scientists will be researching FTL technology, possibly as a "fringe" subject. Biological and/or technological alteration will allow for the creation of entirely new sub-species.

Interactive holograms and noninvasive neural scanning facilitate the procedures that could create supersoldiers. (Firefly, 2002)

Medicine: Advanced genetic knowledge allows the growth of cloned tissue for transplants. Congenital issues can now be repaired in utero. Many routine surgeries can now be handled by robots, which will be available in most large hospitals. Cybernetics can now largely repair or bypass most neurological damage, and limited-life medical nanites are becoming common to repair internal damage without needing surgery. Augments may be deliberately designed with heightened immune systems and regenerative abilities.

Education: Standardized and universal. Colonies will work from a common curriculum, but the widespread network makes propaganda difficult; education will likely be protected by a non-governmental organization (possibly founded by the same people who rebelled against social engineering in the previous age), ensuring (a measure of) objectivity. Genetics, physics, politics, and robotics are matters of social relevance, and all citizens can be expected to know at least the basics (the terms "prototype," "test-type," and "production model" will become household words).

Energy: Colonies (both planet- and spacebound) will rely heavily on advanced technology and sophisticated natural collectors. Advanced high-output sources (anti-matter, baryonic decay, cold-fusion, etc) will be available, but may be extremely limited (still under the direct control of their inventors).

Industry: Mechanized mass-production is universal, harnessing large-scale fabricators and automated constructors to produce and assemble modular components. Personal fabricators are capable of fine detail and intricate moving parts. Use of mechanized fabricators leads to technology becoming standardized --personal customization becomes a status symbol (and antiques [pre-dating mass-production] become fetishized).

Military: Technologically reliant, heavily mechanized. May constitute a distinct sub-species (due to genetic/technological alteration). As society moves into space, open warfare returns as a viable solution --remote space colonies no longer need to worry about environmental fallout, and have no practical reason to avoid the use of force. Nuclear and directed-energy weapons may appear as "superweapons."

Combat, both in space and on planets, will increasingly rely on genetically modified pilots controlling powerful machines --unmodified humans can't compete. (Gundam 00, 2007)

Economy: Complex interdependency between the colonies (collecting raw materials and producing unique goods) and the homeworld (controlling the flow of supplies and probably the central military authority). Trade and transportation between colonies (and up/down the gravity well) will be its own industry (as will the pirates who prey on such trade). Some colonies will be completely specialized toward certain industries. Bazaars will still exist on rim worlds, often side-by-side with direct-order retailers and shopping malls.

Food: Processed food will be the primary staple, with naturally-grown (yet still modified) food as an expensive luxury. Augmented populations may be entirely dependent on engineered nutrients (useful for enforcing obedience). Many citizens will have no idea how to cook; meals are prepared by automation (or by traditionalists who fetishize "old-fashioned" housework).

Travel: Worldwide travel is easy and commonplace (barring political issues). Interplanetary (and surface-space) travel will be corporatized. Long-distance space travel still relies on carefully-plotted courses, though local flight may allow for more manoeuvrability (without needing to worry about conserving fuel, as rescue/resupply will be relatively nearby).

Spaceflight: Permanent, self-sustaining space habitats will likely be present at Lagrange points. Corporate interests are establishing outposts on neighbouring planets, and drone exploration/mining continues in space. Space training now accommodates large classes of "crew," rather than "astronauts." Most of these individuals will be specially-bred augments --space is unsafe for Naturals. This society can now build generation-ships to allow centuries-long interstellar trips.

In a mature Type-9 setting, spaceships capable of unassisted surface-to-space/space-to-surface flight will place interplanetary travel within reach of private citizens. (Firefly, 2002)

Alien contact: Careful. This society will almost certainly be aware of alien life, and may have already detected distant signs of alien intelligence. This society will be undergoing social stresses between the colonies (who want independence) and the homeworld (which needs the colonies' economic support --whether willing or not), as well as between the spacegoing augments (who will be genetically superior) and the planetbound Naturals (who will have the advantage of numbers). Those encountered in space will almost certainly be augments.

Examples (reality):
Examples (fiction): The 'verse, the Silver Millennium, the Balkan System, Tau Ceti system, Serenity Kingdom, Mejere/Taraak, the Star of the West, the Vega system, Earth during the first Robotech War, James Cameron's Avatar, and Christopher L. Bennett's Only Superhuman. The setting of most Gundam series (notably Wing, SEED, 00, AGE, portions of G-Reco, and Iron-Blooded Orphans), 2001: A Space Odyssey, Valvrave, Aldnoah.Zero, Armitage III, Geneshaft, Majestic Prince, Cowboy Bebop, Venus Wars, Classroom Crisis, and The Expanse. Generation ships like Sidonia and the Axiom would have been built by this civilization