A UN project launched numerous missions to research Cryptic technology & the Gates.
One of those was sent to deep space to study what little Cryptic technology had been found, far away from the influence of gravity. Perhaps because of its isolation in deep space, and its general policy of keeping all electronic emission to a minimum, this station survived the extermination that met most of the other missions when the AI Wars erupted.
After almost 200 years in isolation, the mission returned to contact with humanity as Research Temple Pytheas.