The Lalande 21185 system was surveyed more than a century ago, but it is only in the last fifty years that any settlement has taken place with the establishment of a mining colony on the moon Lyon by BHP Trans. The icy world according to BHP Trans being a good source of various difficult to manufacture non-metallic substances.

The world is also on the route to the mining colonies of Ross 128 resulting in a number of bulk carriers passing though periodically to collect the products produced there. A small naval facility has also been setablished on Lyon and the small starport is slowly being expanded due to the increasing traffic in bulk transports.