Exploration Mothership

[Michael Sandy]

I have survey support carriers and tenders, but since survey ships have to fly very long distances anyway, I generally do not embark them.  The survey support is for repairs and for carrying scouts, and jump point surveillance pods.  And the tenders act as mobile mini jump gates.

I have found that around 800 tons is a good size for a survey boat.  Fighters are generally too crapped, not enough room for fuel, engineering, crew endurance and a good engine.  And at 800 tons, having more than 4 of them they do not survey very efficiently.  6 is really the absolute largest number of grav survey boats I would have in a single system survey.

5000 ton hangar capacity is simply larger than a single system survey is ever going to need.  Unless you are playing with reduced survey points or something, so that it takes a lot longer to survey.

I put scouts, which have boosted engines, and recon satellites, which have no engines, in the hangar, but the rest of the survey fleet just flies on its own.

[Rich.h]

I would bin the gauss and shift away from military engines. I had something similar as a survey cruiser but found it was woeful at the task, since I want ships to go out on long missions. For me I like the idea of the classic trek 5 year missions, so had to totally rethink what this ship will be capable of.

Currently I am using the following design, the actives are mostly dead weight, but I keep them on the chance of finding something worth scanning that also isn't shooting at me. The ship carries four survey craft and one diplomatic shuttle for first contact situations. You can see what happens to your distance numbers when you change to commercial engines.

Constantinople - Refit class Survey Command Cruiser      74 943 tons       1 722 Crew       9 124.7 BP       TCS 1 499    TH 5 000    EM 0
3335 km/s    JR 2-25(C)      Armour 2-158       Shields 0-0       HTK 467      Sensors 490/490/0/3      DCR 243      PPV 0
Maint Life 5.70 Years     MSP 16 208    AFR 211%    IFR 2.9%    1YR 843    5YR 12 649    Max Repair 1250 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 14 375 tons     
Captain    Control Rating 3   BRG   ENG   SCI   
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Flight Crew Berths 320    Morale Check Required   

Zheng Thrust Commercial Jump Drive Class 6     Max Ship Size 76500 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 2

Zheng Thrust Commercial Fusion Drive Class 10 (1)    Power 5000    Fuel Use 0.84%    Signature 5000    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 7 000 000 Litres    Range 2 004.5 billion km (6956 days at full power)

Oneill Precision Arms Class 1 CIWS (1x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 20 000 km/s     ROF 5       
Kadni Sensor Systems Missile Sensor Class 1 (1)     GPS 48     Range 19.1m km    MCR 1.7m km    Resolution 1
Kadni Sensor Systems Search Sensor Class 6 (1)     GPS 24000     Range 198.7m km    Resolution 100
Frolov Systems Class 6 TH Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 490     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  175m km
Frolov Systems Class 6 EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 490     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  175m km
Advanced Geological Sensors (1)   3 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Danube class Survey Craft      2 800 tons       77 Crew       735.3 BP       TCS 56    TH 313    EM 0
5582 km/s      Armour 1-17       Shields 0-0       HTK 17      Sensors 0/70/3/3      DCR 4      PPV 0
Maint Life 9.56 Years     MSP 656    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 13    5YR 194    Max Repair 200 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   SCI   
Intended Deployment Time: 7 months    Morale Check Required   

Zheng Thrust Commercial Fusion Drive Class 1 (1)    Power 312.5    Fuel Use 3.35%    Signature 312.5    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 250 000 Litres    Range 479.3 billion km (993 days at full power)

Frolov Systems Class 3 EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 70     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  66.1m km
Advanced Geological Sensors (1)   3 Survey Points Per Hour
Advanced Gravitational Sensors (1)   3 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Endeavour class Diplomatic Ship      3 078 tons       72 Crew       432.6 BP       TCS 62    TH 200    EM 0
3249 km/s      Armour 1-18       Shields 0-0       HTK 15      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 87    Max Repair 300 MSP
Captain    Control Rating 1   BRG   DIP   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months   

Zheng Thrust Commercial Plasma Drive Class 1 (1)    Power 200    Fuel Use 5.59%    Signature 200    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 10 000 Litres    Range 10.5 billion km (37 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

Once I fully research the next line of defence systems and weaponry I may roll out a 90-100kt new cruiser than will have some small level of self defence.