The game runs 100 times faster than real time. So 100 game days pass in only one real day. A game year takes 3.65 real days, and a game hour passes in only 36 seconds. The game "ticks" every game hour. That is, after each game hour, spaceships one hour closer to their destinations, factories produce another hour's worth of goods, scientists make another hour of progress on their latest inventions, etc.
Some companies may specialize in exploring strange new worlds for rich veins of valuable minerals. Others may concentrate on designing and building advanced spacecraft. Still other companies may profit by providing speedy, reliable transport of goods and passengers between worlds. But even a multiglobal corporation cannot expect to succeed alone. Just as in the real world, companies must do business with each other to survive and thrive. Every specialized company will rely on others to provide the services it cannot.