
Maybe this has been discussed, but how did the humans on the Covenant plan to colonize a planet that aleady had a human-like population? Assume worst case, that David kills everyone on day one of his arrival. That means that the planet had no "people" on it for 10 years. While that is a long time, it is not long for space travel. The Covenant would have been en route while beings were still living on the planet..

The planet in question, wasn't their intended destination, they were routed there because they picked up a distress call/beacon from either Shaw or David.

daniels expresses her doubts but obviously she is not the one in charge.
i still think it is a questionable decision considering there are 2000 colonists on board.
it will be interesting to see how this plays out because there is rumour the original captain dies in cryo.
is answering a distress call really priority when you have 2000 souls on board.
i understand there is a drop ship and covenant stays outer atmosphere but it is a big call
Take This.... This is the blood of our lord

daniels expresses her doubts but obviously she is not the one in charge.
i still think it is a questionable decision considering there are 2000 colonists on board.
it will be interesting to see how this plays out because there is rumour the original captain dies in cryo.
is answering a distress call really priority when you have 2000 souls on board.
i understand there is a drop ship and covenant stays outer atmosphere but it is a big call
Take This.... This is the blood of our lord

I have a suspicion Oram is responsible for the captains death and/or he's been given orders to investigate the signal by Weyland, a bit like the original alien and aliens.

The Covenant is apparently on its way to a more distant planet (Origae-6) when an accident occurs and they set course for the planet where David is.
https://pop.inquirer.net/2017/05/ridley-scott-explores-darkest-corners-alien-covenant/

My suspicion is MUTHUR is responsible for the captain's death!

AdamPD - i agree, oram done something to get in charge. it sounds like a company move but there is more to it than that or oram would just of been put in charge.
something going on for sure
Take This.... This is the blood of our lord

It wasn't the planet they were originally planning on colonizing. They got a distress call from this planet and went down to investigate.