Royal Space Navy
The Royal Space Navy is the starfaring arm of the military of the Empire. After the disaster at the Battle of Gibraltar in 2026, it became apparent that space control was of vital importance, moreso even than air control had been before. To this end, the handful of orbital warships being operated or constructed for the Air Force, the Ministry of Space, and the Royal Navy were consolidated under Royal Navy control.The organisational complexities of handling both surface-going and spacefaring vessels in the same management structure began to show soon, and by 2030, the force had split into two - the Royal Space Navy, and the Royal Surface Navy. (The Surface Navy still exists today, albiet in a vastly reduced form).
The 2030s were a very good decade for the Navy, with HMS Beagle's discovery of an extraterrestrial intellegence, the succesful colonisation of New Antarctica, and the victory at the Battle of Alpha Centauri, and this led to a massive ship-building program.
The recent hyperspace mining of the Sol system, has adversely affected the Royal Space Navy's ability to project power in the extrasolar regions. Over three-quarters of capital ships were at Sol at the time, the handful that weren't being mainly lightly-armed exploratory vessels or older ships. There is only one extrasolar shipyard controlled by the Empire. These will be trying times for the Empire, as we seek to maintain control of our holdings, and then try and develop a technology for removing the mines.