- "I've heard older Komarrans talk about how they felt when Admiral Vorkosigan's invasion forces took over the mirror, practically the first thing. I can't think that it had much tactical value, at the high speed at which the space battles went, but it certainly had a huge psychological impact. It was almost as if we had captured their sun itself. I think returning it to Komarran civilian control in the last few years was a very good political move."
- ―Ekaterin on the Soletta's importance to Komarrans[src]
The soletta was a hexagonal group of solar mirrors, six around a central seventh, that orbited Komarr's sun and reflected light from it onto the planetary surface, heating up the world. It played a major role in the Komarr Terraforming Project. The soletta's station crew was six people.
At the start of the Komarran Invasion, Admiral Vorkosigan captured the soletta. The psychological effect on the population of Komarr was great; years later many people spoke of the time they learned of the event. A significant part of the Komarr integration scheme was the return of the soletta to Komarran civilian hands, which occurred a few years before the events of Komarr.
The Komarran people had been petitioning theBarrayaran Imperium for the funds needed to expand the soletta for some time when it was accidentally damaged by a group of revolutionaries who were intent on ridding their planet of the Barrayarans. Emperor Gregor, who was in the process of marrying Laisa Toscane, a Komarran woman, promised to provide that funding as part of his wedding gift to her people.
References[]
- A Civil Campaign chapter 17