Type 11 Societies

A Type-11 society is one in which member worlds are functionally self-reliant --they no longer need the Homeworld propping them up, and have banded together voluntarily. This civilization is (generally) no longer worried about mere survival, but has the luxury of seeking improvement (either through intellectual advancement, territorial expansion, economic dominion, or merely social stasis).

In the wake of the Romulan War, Earth, Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, and the independent Alpha Centauri colonies banded together to create the United Federation of Planets; a Type-11 civilization. (Enterprise, 2001)

Type 10 Societies

A Type-10 society has broken the light barrier, and is capable of building faster-than-light starships to visit neighbouring solar systems. The defining element of a Type-10 society is that the Homeworld will be the main political entity --when members of this society say "home," they will universally be referring to the homeworld, even if that particular citizen has never set foot there.

Faster-than-light starships will enable this civilization to explore beyond their solar system, while still maintaining close contact with home. (Enterprise, 2001)

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)

Type 8 Societies

A Type-8 society could be characterized as the "cyberpunk" future. As the planet's resources are used up (ten billion is about the maximum population an Earth-sized planet can support), the global economy comes to rely heavily on space-mining --which means that the greatest economic growth will be of the corporations performing the mining, with little of it redistributed to the bulk of the terrestrial population. The social backlash to this leads to a widespread counter-culture; an entire generation of impoverished renegades with nothing to lose, but nothing to gain either.

For those locked out of the system, life is harsh, unforgiving, and short. (Akira, 1988)

Type 7 Societies

A Type-7 society will have access to planetary orbit, and a robust and largely unrestricted planetary data network, but will also be dealing with resource shortages and environmental collapse.

This civilization will likely have a semi-permanent space station in orbit. (picture by NASA)

Type 6 Societies

Wealth and prosperity signal an Age of Discovery and an Industrial Revolution, permanently transforming this society, and eventually ushering in the Atomic Age and the dawn of space exploration. Space will become the Final Frontier --the only remaining way for this civilization to expand.

The Industrial revolution and its underlying philosophy (that things of a type should be identical and interchangeable) will influence society from here onward. (picture from Getty Images)

Type 5 Societies

Type-5 societies tend to be unstable: while the leader of a Type-4 civilization can exert direct authority over an entire kingdom, the Type-5 society has grown too large and widespread. The ruler must now rely on territorial lords and administrators, who will have ample opportunity to act in secret.

The Roman Senate was the true power in this Type-5 society. (HBO's Rome, 2005)