The Rigellian Trade Authority (or Rigel Trade Authority, RTA) was a Rigellian organization that oversaw and administered trade in the Rigel system. The organization was headquartered in the Trade Halls of Rigel IV. Orions were also important in the RTA.
After 988 000 BCE (reference stardate -9900/00), the Rigellians opened up the Rigel system to all races for trade and development. Thousands of races came, and some warred. Later, around 968,000 BCE (stardate -9700/00), the Rigellians sponsored several cooperative ventures, with the aim of educating other races, regulating trade and correcting the damage that the Masters had done to other star systems. One of these was the Rigellian Trade Authority, and it was the only one of these endeavors to have any success; all the rest failed.
However, since the Rigellians kept their historical records secret from everybody, much of the history of the RTA was unknown to outsiders. Archaeologists of the 23rd century could determine that the RTA was functioning 100,000 years ago basically as it did in their time. The earliest extant records came from the time of the First Interregnum, from around 88,000 BCE (stardate -900/00) to 73,000 BCE (stardate -750/00), and they did not indicate a time when Rigel IV was not well-known and heavily trafficked. The RTA's own records showed cyclical profit trends over the course of tens of thousands of years. The RTA did claim that Rigel IV was completely paved over 50,000 years before.
In the late 23rd century, the RTA reported statistics on operations at Rigel IV, that an average of 2.6 starships and 6.15 million tons of cargo arrived or departed every minute. (FASA RPG modules: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge, The Orions: Book of Deep Knowledge)