TEXT: An e23 Sourcebook for GURPS
  ®
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  Stock #37-0124
  Version 1.0 – October 2009
  ®
  Written by DAVID L. PULVER
  Edited by JASON “PK” LEVINE and ANDY VETROMILE
  Illustrated by MICHAEL BARRETT, DENIS LOUBET, 
  DARRELL MIDGETTE and DAN SMITH
  EXPLORATION AND COLONY SPACECRAFT
  TM
  
  CONTENTS
  2
   INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . 3
  About the Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Publication History. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  1. SPACECRAFT . . . . . . . . . 4
  PROBES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Icarus-Class Space
  Probe (TL8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  Small Upper Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Comet-Class Deep 
  Space Probe (TL9). . . . . . . . . . . 5
  Polaris-Class Multi-Stage 
  Star Probe (TL11) . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  EXPLORATION SHIPS. . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Nova-Class Rocket 
  Ship (TL7-8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Phobos-Class Deep-Space 
  Rocket (TL8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  Prometheus-Class Nuclear 
  Rocket Ship (TL8) . . . . . . . . . . . 8
  Mars Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
  Enceladus-Class 
  Exploration Ship (TL9) . . . . . . . 9
  Constellation-Class Exploration
  Starship (TL9^) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  Odyssey-Class Exploration 
  Ship (TL9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  Kilroy-Class Armored 
  Scout Ship (TL10^) . . . . . . . . . 10
  Einstein-Class Exploration 
  Ramship (TL11). . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Dirac-Class Exploration 
  Cruiser (TL12^) . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Relativistic Travel 
  and Time Dilation. . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Palomar-Class Exploration 
  Cruiser (TL12^) . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
  EXPLORATION LANDERS . . . . . . . . 13
  Artemis-Class Lander (TL8). . . . . 13
  Lowell-Class Planetary 
  Lander (TL8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  Helldiver-Class Armored 
  Lander (TL9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Komarov-Class Winged 
  Lander (TL10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  Grissom-Class Exploration 
  Shuttle (TL11^) . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  SCIENCE AND SURVEY
  VESSELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Orpheus-Class Interplanetary 
  Survey Ship (TL10) . . . . . . . . . 16
  Darwin-Class Bio-Survey 
  Starship (TL10^) . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Serengeti-Class Bio-Survey 
  Ship (TL10^) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Columbia-Class Survey 
  Ship (TL11^) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Roswell-Class Covert 
  Survey Ship (TL11^) . . . . . . . . 18
  Star Hunter-Class Covert 
  Survey Ship (TL12^) . . . . . . . . 18
  COLONY SHIPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Mayflower-Class Colonial 
  Transport (TL9) . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Genesis-Class Colonial 
  Transport (TL10^) . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Exodus-Class Colonial 
  Transport (TL11^) . . . . . . . . . . 20
  GENERATION SHIPS . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Universe-Class Generation 
  Ship (TL10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Endeavor-Class Generation 
  Ship (TL11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Magellan-Class 
  Worldship (TL11^) . . . . . . . . . 22
  SEEDSHIPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Johnny Appleseed-Class 
  Seedship (TL11). . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Growth Tanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Star Seed-Class Factory 
  Probe (TL11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  PRISON TRANSPORTS . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Charon-Class Sleeper 
  Ship (TL10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Suspended Animation 
  and Nanostasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Alcatraz-Class Colonial 
  Transport (TL10^) . . . . . . . . . . 25
  OUTPOST AND RESEARCH
  STATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Van Allen-Class Space 
  Lab (TL9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Margrave-Class Outpost 
  Station (TL10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Labyrinth-Class Jump 
  Station (TL11^) . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  SMALL SENSOR DRONES
  AND PROBES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  2. EXPEDITIONS
  AND OPERATIONS . . . . 28
  EXPEDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Scientific Expeditions. . . . . . . . . . 28
  Strategic and Political 
  Expeditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Commercial Expeditions . . . . . . . 28
  Adventure Idea: 
  Races and Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  Missionary Expeditions . . . . . . . . 29
  Colonization Missions . . . . . . . . . 30
  Running Colonization 
  Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  REMOTE SURVEY
  PROCEDURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Out-System Survey Tasks. . . . . . . 31
  In-System Survey Tasks . . . . . . . . 33
  PLANETARY EXPLORATION. . . . . . . 34
  Geological Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Biological Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Surveys on Non-Garden 
  Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Ecological Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  FIRST CONTACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
  Linguistic Assessment. . . . . . . . . . 35
  Sociological Assessment. . . . . . . . 36
  They Know We’re Coming . . . . . . . 36
  Covert Contact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Overt Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
  3. SPACE HAZARDS . . . . . 39
  METEOROIDS AND
  SPACE JUNK . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
  Cascade Catastrophes . . . . . . . . . . 39
  Interstellar Impact Hazards. . . . . 39
  RADIATION HAZARDS . . . . . . . . . . 40
  Cosmic Rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
  Solar Flares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
  Planetary Radiation Belts. . . . . . . 40
  Radiation Protection. . . . . . . . . . . 41
  Mitigating Radiation Effects . . . . 41
  LOST IN SPACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  SPACE MONSTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  CONTENTS
  GURPS System Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON
  GURPS Line Editor ❚ SEAN PUNCH
  Managing Editor ❚ PHILIP REED
  e23 Manager ❚ STEVEN MARSH
   
  Page Design ❚ PHIL REED and
  JUSTIN DE WITT
  Art Director ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
  Production Artist & Indexer ❚ NIKOLA VRTIS
  Prepress Checker ❚ WILL SCHOONOVER
  Marketing Director ❚ PAUL CHAPMAN
  Director of Sales ❚ ROSS JEPSON
  GURPS FAQ Maintainer ❚ –––––––
  VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
  
  INTRODUCTION
  3
  Voyaging across the void, to uncover the
  mysteries of strange new worlds – this is the
  great dream and promise of space travel. This
  book presents a range of unmanned space
  probes and manned exploration and survey
  vessels designed to do just that, as well the
  colony ships that may follow them. In addi-
  tion, game mechanics for exploration, survey,
  and contact missions are included, as well as
  and rules for facing the worst “man against
  nature” hazards of extended voyages in space,
  such as cosmic radiation and solar flares.
  PUBLICATION HISTORY
  Some of the survey and contact rules are derived from those
  found in GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars by Paul Drye,
  Loren Wiseman, and Jon F. Zeigler.
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  David L. Pulver is a freelance writer and game designer
  based in Victoria, British Columbia. He is the co-author of the
  GURPS Basic Set Fourth Edition and author of Transhuman
  Space, GURPS Spaceships, GURPS Ultra-Tech, and numer-
  ous other RPGs and supplements.
  Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of
  GURPS players. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box 18957,
  Austin, TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped
  envelope (SASE) any time you write us! We can also be
  reached by e-mail: info@sjgames.com. Resources include:
  New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to
  grow – see what’s new at www.sjgames.com/gurps.
  e23. Our e-publishing division offers GURPS adven-
  tures, play aids, and support in PDF form . . . digital copies
  of our books, plus exclusive material available only on e23!
  Just head over to e23.sjgames.com.
  Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid). Our monthly
  PDF magazine includes new rules and articles for GURPS,
  systemless locations, adventures, and much more. Look for
  each themed issue from e23!
  Internet.
  Visit us on the World Wide Web at
  www.sjgames.com
  for errata, updates, Q&A, and 
  much more. To discuss GURPS with our staff and your
   fellow gamers, visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com.
  You can find the web page for GURPS Space-
  ships 5: Exploration and Colony Spacecraft
  at
  www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/spaceships/spaceships5.
  Bibliographies. Many of our books have extensive bibli-
  ographies, and we’re putting them online – with links to let
  you buy the resources that interest you! Go to each book’s
  web page and look for the “Bibliography” link.
  Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we
  do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata pages for all
  GURPS releases, including this book, are available on our
  website – see above.
  Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
  GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
  begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
  About GURPS
  About the Series
  GURPS Spaceships 5: Exploration and Colony Spacecraft is one
  of several books in the GURPS Spaceships series. This series sup-
  ports GURPS Space campaigns by providing ready-to-use spacecraft
  descriptions and rules for space travel, combat, and operations.  GMs
  will need the core book, GURPS Spaceships, to use this book.
  Lead Playtester: Jeff Wilson
  Playtesters: Paul Blankenship, Frederick Brackin, Kyle Bresin, Douglas Cole, Shawn Fisher, Thomas Gamble, Jon Glenn, 
  Martin Heidemann, Anthony Jackson, Thomas Jones-Low, C.R. Rice, Christopher Thrash, Jon Walters, and Sam Young
  Extra-special thanks to Kenneth Peters for playtest contributions above and beyond the call of duty.
  GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid, Exploration and Colony Spacecraft, e23, and the
  names of all  products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. 
  GURPS Spaceships 5: Exploration and Colony Spacecraft is copyright © 2009 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Some art © 2009 JupiterImages Corporation. 
  All rights reserved.
  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this material via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal,
  and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage 
  the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
   INTRODUCTION
  
  SPACECRAFT
  4
  Isabelle Schooner gazed out the main terminal window of
  Earth Station. It was the first time she had really seen the fin-
  ished starship up close. The Infinity was the greatest spacecraft
  mankind had ever built, larger than the station itself. She was
  nearly a kilometer long, from her mighty antimatter engines to
  her forward radiation shield, a monument to a united Earth’s
  determination to reach the stars.
  If only they weren’t so very far away . . .
  Isabelle’s new husband Samuel, the starship’s senior engineer,
  stood beside her. He’d spent the last decade building the great
  ship, even as she’d been instrumental in fighting the political and
  economic battles that financed it. They had married yesterday,
  one of a thousand couples who would crew the vessel. They
  would board the ship tomorrow. It would be the longest honey-
  moon in human history.
  “There’s nothing like her,” Samuel said. “She’s a beauty, that’s
  for sure.”
  “That she is, Sam.” Isabelle smiled. “Should I be jealous?”
  “Can’t I love you both?” He chuckled, but then his eyes turned
  serious. “But we must love her, Isabelle, just like we love the
  Earth.” His voice grew wistful. “Our distant descendents may
  one day walk on another planet. But for us, for our children, for
  the generations that will follow . . . Infinity will be the only world
  they’ll ever know.”
  This chapter presents a wide range of exploration and colo-
  nization spacecraft designed using the GURPS Spaceships
  rules. However, GURPS has no default interstellar background
  setting, and there are thousands of possible combinations of
  spaceship systems and degrees of superscience. The vessels
  included draw from three tech paradigms: realistic hard-science
  designs for TL7 to TL12; ships built with limited superscience
  propulsion systems, such as a torch drives or stardrives; and per-
  vasive-superscience vessels that make extensive use of reaction-
  less drives and other exotic technologies such as force fields.
  These design choices are not the only options. Since the
  basic system of GURPS Spaceships is highly modular, it’s easy
  for GMs to swap out components and adjust them to fit their
  campaign. Feel free to remove or replace any systems , adjust-
  ing statistics as described in the GURPS Spaceships rules.
  CHAPTER ONE
  SPACECRAFT
  PROBES
  Unmanned probes are the first exploration spacecraft
  launched by a society. Their lack of crew simplifies life support
  and allows one-way missions, eliminating the need for fuel or
  power enough to return home. Probes may spend decades or
  centuries voyaging through space, radioing back their discov-
  eries for as long as they continue to function.
  GURPS Spaceships is not intended for building very small
  vessels, such as many TL7-8 probes, so these designs are large
  and sophisticated interplanetary and interstellar craft, most
  controlled by artificial intelligences.
  Adventurers don’t operate star probes, but efforts to
  launch them and reaction to news of their startling discover-
  ies could catalyze adventures. Manned exploration or trading
  vessels may even come upon long-lost probes, now valuable
  historical artifacts or potential safety hazards. First contact
  with an alien civilization might be an encounter with one of
  its robotic space probes.
  ICARUS-CLASS
  SPACE PROBE (TL8)
  This is a large, reusable solar-electric powered unmanned
  spacecraft, designed to operate indefinitely with little or no
  maintenance. It would be most useful in the inner solar system
  where solar power is relatively abundant. The probe is 40 feet
  long with a 30-ton (SM +5) unstreamlined hull. It must be
  launched from an orbital station or spacecraft. Its small
  hangar bay deploys surface rovers onto airless moons or aster-
  oids, and launches scientific packages.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2]
  Robot Arm (ST 200).
  [3-6]
  Hangar Bays (total four tons capacity).
  [core]
  Control Room (C2 computer, comm/sensor 2,
  and no control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 4).
  [3-4]
  Solar Panel Arrays (providing one Power
  Point each).
  [5-6]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons ionizable reaction mass
  with 3.6 mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2-3!]
  Ion Drive Engine (0.0005G acceleration each).
  [4-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons ionizable reaction mass
  with 3.6 mps delta-V each).
  The probe is unmanned. 
  
  SPACECRAFT
  5
  COMET-CLASS DEEP
  SPACE PROBE (TL9)
  This is an unmanned probe for fast missions to outer-system
  planets, the Kuiper Belt, or the Oort cloud. With a delta-V of 192
  mps, it goes from Earth orbit to Saturn orbit in under three
  months. It’s built using a 100-foot, 300-ton (SM +7) unstream-
  lined hull. It uses a fusion pulse drive for propulsion, which pro-
  vides much higher acceleration than lower-TL ion drives. Even
  so, it has no ability to land or take off from Earthlike planets and
  thus needs to be assembled and launched in space. The probe’s
  hangar bays carry its payload and are large enough for a wide
  variety of scientific instrument packages.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 7).
  [2-5]
  Hangar Bay (10 tons capacity each).
  Front Hull
  System
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 7).
  [core]
  Control Room (C5 computer, comm/sensor 5,
  and no control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tank (15 tons nuclear fuel pellets with
  24 mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-3]
  Advanced Fusion Pulse Drives (0.005G
  acceleration each).
  [4-6]
  Fuel Tank (15 tons nuclear fuel pellets with
  24 mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Engine Room.
  The probe is unmanned. It has exposed radiators, and total
  automation that eliminates the engine room’s workspace crew.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL8 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  8
  Icarus-class
  20
  -4/3
  12
  0.001G/21.6 mps
  30
  4
  +5
  0
  2
  0
  $1,227K
  POLARIS-CLASS MULTI-STAGE
  STAR PROBE (TL11)
  This is a two-stage slower-than-light star probe. Using a
  nuclear pulse rocket engine coupled with a magnetic sail, it’s
  capable of reaching 5.9% of light speed to achieve a “flyby”
  interstellar mission (e.g., Earth to Alpha Centauri) in 75-100
  years, dropping off various scientific instruments from within
  its hangar bays. By allowing extra time for braking via its mag-
  netic sail, it could rendezvous with its target star system and
  explore it.
  Polaris Booster Stage (TL11)
  This first stage is little more than a powerful fusion pulse
  engine and a giant fuel tank built on a 10,000-ton (SM +10)
  hull 200 feet long. The booster attains an impressive delta-V of
  11,200 mps, 6% of the speed of light.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 30).
  [2-3]
  Small Upper Stage (Polaris star probe).
  [4-6]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons of fuel pellets with 700
  mps delta-V each).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons of fuel pellets with 700
  mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Fusion Pulse Drive (0.005G
  acceleration).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons of fuel pellets with 700
  mps delta-V each).
  The booster is unmanned. It has total automation for its
  fusion pulse drive, exposed radiators, and is controlled from
  the star-probe state (below).
  Polaris Star Probe (TL11)
  The small upper stage of the star probe is an unstreamlined
  1,000-ton spacecraft (SM +8) 75 feet in diameter. Its major
  propulsion system is a second fusion pulse engine that adds
  4,410 mps to the first stage for a total delta-V of 15,610 mps
  (0.084c). This is backed up by a magnetic sail for braking
  against the interstellar medium. 
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL9 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  9
  Comet-class
  50
  -3/5
  12
  0.01G/192 mps
  300
  40
  +7
  0
  7/5/5
  0
  $22.07M
  Small Upper Stage
  An Upper Stage (GURPS Spaceships, p. 26) does
  not have to take up an entire six systems. A small upper
  stage is an alternative that only occupies two systems
  in the front hull. The small upper-stage spacecraft is
  two SMs smaller; for example, an SM +10 spacecraft
  has an SM +8 spacecraft as its small upper stage. If a
  hit location roll strikes either of these two systems, roll
  a hit location and apply damage to the front hull of the
  upper stage spacecraft instead. Otherwise use the nor-
  mal rules for upper stages.
  
  SPACECRAFT
  6
  The probe’s front hull is heavily armored to protect against
  collision with dust particles. Larger objects are detected by
  sensors and destroyed by its fast-firing laser armament. It car-
  ries smaller probes and instruments in its hangar bays.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (total
  dDR 30).
  [3]
  Hangar Bay (30 tons capacity).
  [4!]
  Major Battery (one 30 MJ improved rapid fire
  ultraviolet laser turret).
  Front Hull
  System
  [5!]
  Magsail (0.001G acceleration for 
  braking/in-system propulsion).
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 10).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons of fuel pellets with 490
  mps delta-V each)
  [core]
  Control Room (C9 computer, comm/sensor 8,
  and no control stations).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Advanced Fusion Pulse Drive (0.005G
  acceleration).
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons of fuel pellets with 490
  mps delta-V each)
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).
  The probe is unmanned and has exposed radiators.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11
  Polaris Booster
  150
  -5/5
  12
  0.005G/11,200 mps
  10,000
  0
  +10
  0
  30/0/0
  0
  $273M
  11
  Polaris Star Probe
  70
  -4/5
  12
  0.005G/+4,410 mps
  1,000
  30
  +8
  0
  30/15/15
  0
  $68.6M
  These spacecraft are designed to transport manned expedi-
  tions to distant destinations. Exploration ships are built to go
  farther (or faster) than ordinary commercial or military ves-
  sels, go where no one has gone before, and return within a rea-
  sonable length of time. They push the limits of what is possible
  at a given TL, such as chemical-propulsion rockets that go
  from Earth to Mars at TL8, or fast sublight starships that cross
  interstellar distances without superscience, traveling light
  years in decades rather than millennia.
  Exploration ships feature scientific or multipurpose sen-
  sors, onboard lab facilities, and the hangar capacity to carry
  landing vessels, smaller probes, and planetary vehicles. A
  major challenge facing their creators is that an exploration
  ship can’t expect to find a friendly spaceport at its destination.
  Those intended to return home must be self-sufficient, trans-
  porting all necessary supplies, spare parts, landing craft, and
  personnel for the mission. Vessels that use reaction drives have
  the further complication of carrying enough reaction mass to
  return home or appropriate refinery equipment to make those
  materials at their destination. If the reaction mass is water, it’s
  easy to get from ice; if it’s rocket fuel or hydrogen, it may be
  possible to process it from indigenous resources using a chem-
  ical refinery. Unfortunately, some of the best-performing reac-
  tion drives – such as those using antimatter, bomb pulse units,
  or nuclear pellets – require a major industrial effort to fuel.
  Those built using superscience technologies such as reac-
  tionless drives or stardrives have fewer limitations. Designs
  range from small scout ships to giant cruisers for multiyear
  voyages of discovery. Space-opera exploration starships add
  powerful weapons and defense systems (such as heavy armor
  and force fields) to protect themselves from the likely threat of
  hostile aliens!
  NOVA-CLASS
  ROCKET SHIP (TL7-8)
  Early space-exploration missions are launched by powerful
  chemical rocket engines. The Nova-class is configured to lob a
  payload from an Earthlike world onto an interplanetary trajec-
  tory. Similar in size to the Saturn V that carried the Apollo
  astronauts to the moon, it consists of two chemical booster
  stages, the Nova I and II (TL7 technology), to which stages may
  be added depending on the mission. For an interplanetary voy-
  age, the upper stage (Nova III) is a Chariot-class nuclear
  booster that also carries a payload stage.
  Nova I: First Booster Stage (TL7)
  This heavy-lift booster uses a 3,000-ton (SM +9) streamlined
  hull 360 feet high. It adds 3.12 mps of delta-V to help boost the
  craft into orbit.
  EXPLORATION SHIPS
  For we are bound where mariner has
  not yet dared go. And we will risk the
  ship, ourselves, and all.
  – Walt Whitman
  
  SPACECRAFT
  7
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-6]
  Upper Stage.
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (150 tons rocket fuel with 0.24 mps
  delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Chemical Rocket Engine (3G acceleration).
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (150 tons rocket fuel with 0.24 mps
  delta-V each).
  Nova II: Second Booster Stage (TL7)
  The second stage uses a 1,000 ton (SM +8) streamlined hull.
  It adds a further 3.12 mps of delta-V (total 6.24 mps), allowing
  the second stage Nova to reach low orbit.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-6]
  Upper Stage.
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (50 tons rocket fuel with 0.24 mps
  delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Chemical Rocket Engine (3G acceleration).
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (50 tons rocket fuel with 0.24 mps
  delta-V each).
  The spacecraft is controlled from its third or fourth stage.
  Nova III: Chariot-Class 
  Nuclear Booster (TL8)
  This is the unmanned third stage
  of a Nova-class rocket. It is a 300-ton
  (SM +7) streamlined hull with a fis-
  sion rocket propulsion system. It
  kicks in as the spacecraft is in low
  orbit, providing 6.24 mps of delta-V,
  more than enough for entry into an
  Earth-to-Mars transfer orbit with a
  substantial reserve.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-6]
  Upper Stage (Mars Lander, Phobos, or Deep
  Space Rocket).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (15 tons hydrogen with 0.48 mps
  delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine (0.2G
  acceleration).
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (15 tons hydrogen with 0.48 mps
  delta-V each).
  The entire spacecraft is controlled from the upper stage.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL8 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  7
  Nova I
  100
  -2/4
  12
  3G/3.12 mps
  3,000
  0
  +9
  0
  0/0/0
  0
  $19M
  7
  Nova II
  70
  -2/4
  12
  3G/+3.12 mps
  1,000
  0
  +8
  0
  0/0/0
  0
  $5.9M
  8
  Chariot-class
  50
  -3/4
  12
  0.2G/+6.24 mps
  300
  0
  +7
  0
  */0/0
  0
  $2.8M
  * The front dDR depends on the upper stage’s front armor.
  PHOBOS-CLASS
  DEEP-SPACE ROCKET (TL8)
  This rocket ship can carry a four-man crew on an inter-
  planetary journey, usually via a transfer orbit (see GURPS
  Spaceships, p. 38). It is built with a 100-ton (SM +6) unstream-
  lined hull. In the sample Mars Mission (p. 8), this vessel is
  transported to Mars orbit using a Chariot-class booster (see
  above), then becomes an “Earth Return Vehicle” to achieve
  Earth orbit. It also aerobrakes and reenters a planetary atmos-
  phere using its disposable soft-landing system.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Soft-Landing System.
  [2]
  Control Room (C3 computer, comm/sensor 3,
  and two control stations).
  [3-5]
  Fuel Tank (five tons rocket fuel with 0.27 
  mps delta-V each).
  Front Hull
  System
  [6]
  Habitat (five tons cargo).
  [core]
  Habitat (bunkroom).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (five tons rocket fuel with 0.27
  mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Chemical Rocket Engine (3G acceleration).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tank (five tons rocket fuel with 0.27 
  mps delta-V each).
  Personnel include two control crew.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL8 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  8
  Phobos-class
  30
  -1/3
  12
  3G/4.05 mps
  100
  5.4
  +6
  4ASV
  0
  0
  $1.15M
  
  PROMETHEUS-CLASS
  NUCLEAR ROCKET
  SHIP (TL8)
  This nuclear-powered exploration ship is
  intended for a slow two-way voyage of a few
  AU in length (e.g., Earth orbit to Mars orbit
  or to the asteroid belt) while carrying a four-
  man crew. It is built using a 1,000-ton (SM
  +8) unstreamlined hull 100 feet long. It’s
  assembled in orbit and so requires the system
  to have a fairly extensive space infrastructure.
  On a typical mission, it uses delta-V to
  maneuver into a transfer orbit and then
  spends several months cruising. Its hangar
  carries landing craft for visiting the surface.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 7).
  [2]
  Control Room (C4 computer, comm/sensor 5,
  and four control stations).
  [3-6]
  Hangar Bays (30 tons capacity each).
  [core]
  Habitat (one bunkroom, two labs, and one-
  bed sickbay).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons hydrogen with 0.42 mps
  delta-V each).
  [core]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 7).
  [2]
  Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine (0.2G
  acceleration).
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons hydrogen with 0.42 mps
  delta-V each).
  SPACECRAFT
  8
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL8 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  8
  Prometheus-class 70
  -3/4
  13
  0.2G/4.2 mps
  1,000
  120.4
  +8
  4ASV
  7/0/7
  0
  $14.7M
  A manned mission to Mars is often presented as a pri-
  mary goal of near-future space exploration. Achieving this
  with TL8 reaction drive propulsion technology is challeng-
  ing but possible. The most efficient way to do this is via a
  transfer orbit (see GURPS Spaceships, p. 38). A mission
  requires these minimum delta-Vs:
  5.6 mps to lift off into Earth orbit.
  3.4 mps for a low-energy transfer orbit (which includes
  escape velocity) from Earth orbit to Mars orbit. (This takes
  131 days.)
  0.03 mps (or the use of wings or a soft-landing system)
  to land on Mars.
  2.48 mps to boost from the Martian surface to Mars
  orbit.
  No single spacecraft built at TL7-8 can carry fuel tanks
  with enough delta-V (almost 12 mps) for a land-and-return
  mission and still carry a useful payload, so a manned Mars
  expedition requires more than one multistage spacecraft.
  Various proposals exist for manned Mars missions;
  many were treated in detail in GURPS Mars. They range
  from multiple launches of chemical rocket ships using “off-
  the-shelf” technology to sophisticated affairs requiring
  near-future nuclear thermal or ion drive engines. One pop-
  ular plan, Mars Direct, involves sending an automated
  chemical refueling plant first so astronauts can make
  return rocket fuel using indigenous resources.
  The more complex resource-utilization plans are
  beyond the scope of the simple design system presented in
  GURPS Spaceships. However, a basic near-future Mars
  mission using the TL8 spacecraft described in this chapter
  might involve the following steps:
  1. A 3,000-ton Nova-class heavy-lift booster (pp. 6-7) is
  launched from Earth’s surface, carrying an unmanned 100-
  ton Phobos-class Deep-Space Rocket (p. 7) to serve as an
  “Earth Return Vehicle” (ERV). The first two stages are used
  up lifting the vessel into orbit; the third stage boosts the
  vehicle into a transfer orbit bound for Mars. A few months
  later, the third stage and the ERV arrive in Mars orbit.
  2. A second Nova-class heavy-lift booster is then
  launched, this time with its fourth stage carrying the two-
  stage 100-ton Lowell-class lander (pp. 13-14) with a four-
  man crew. It follows the same mission profile and also
  arrives in Mars orbit.
  3. The Lowell-class lander descends from orbit to the
  surface, aerobraking in the Martian atmosphere and put-
  ting down with its disposable soft-landing system. Using it
  as their base camp, the crew spend several months explor-
  ing Mars until the next launch window for a transfer orbit
  back to Earth comes around.
  4. The 30-ton upper stage of the Lowell (the Ascent Vehi-
  cle) blasts off, carrying the astronauts and any return sam-
  ples into Mars orbit. It docks with the orbiting Phobos-class
  Earth Return Vehicle and the astronauts transfer to it.
  5. The Earth Return Vehicle blasts out of Mars orbit and
  boosts into a transfer orbit toward Earth. Several months
  later, it arrives in Earth orbit.
  6. The Earth Return Vehicle docks with a space station
  in Earth orbit or, more likely, uses its own soft-landing sys-
  tem to aerobrake and parachute down to Earth’s surface.
  This procedure ignores a few technical difficulties
  below the resolution of the system, e.g., the need to use a
  lower, specific-impulse, storable rocket propellant for the
  Ascent and Earth Return Vehicles.
  Mars Mission
  
  SPACECRAFT
  9
  ENCELADUS-CLASS
  EXPLORATION SHIP (TL9)
  Using nuclear pulse propulsion, this cruiser-sized space-
  ship is capable of transporting a large expedition anywhere in
  the solar system. Its performance far surpasses chemical or
  nuclear thermal rockets, but the price paid is the need to
  manufacture and detonate multiple nuclear bombs for
  thrust! The heavy armor on the rear section is its hemispher-
  ical pusher plate. The exploration ship’s sizable hangar bay
  carries landing craft, robots, or other scientific equipment,
  and is an additional roll-on/roll-off cargo bay. It can reach an
  impressive delta-V of 56 miles per second, enough for reason-
  ably fast interplanetary travel with plenty of delta-V remain-
  ing for a return. It has an unstreamlined 10,000-ton (SM +10)
  hull 300 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 10).
  [2]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 10).*
  [3]
  Hangar Bay (300 tons capacity).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [4]
  Habitat (20 cabins, gym, six labs, six-bed
  sickbay, and 100 tons cargo).*
  [5-6]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons bomb pulse units with
  5.6 mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Control Room (C7 computer, comm/sensor 8,
  and only six control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons bomb pulse units with
  5.6 mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (total dDR 40).
  [3]
  Steel Armor (dDR 10).
  [4-5]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons bomb pulse units with
  5.6 mps delta-V each).
  [6]
  External Pulsed Plasma Drive 
  (2G acceleration).*
  * One workspace per system.
  The typical complement consists of six control crew, one
  medic, five technicians, and 12 scientists.
  CONSTELLATION-Class
  EXPLORATION
  STARSHIP (TL9^)
  Stardrives could conceivably be the fruit of a TL9 techno-
  logical breakthrough, and this is a first-generation exploration
  starship equipped with such a stardrive and an early model
  fusion rocket reaction drive. Its engines use water for reaction
  mass to make refueling from indigenous sources (comet ice,
  etc.) simple. It is not designed for planetary landings, but has
  plenty of hangar-bay space for smaller craft. It is built using a
  3,000-ton (SM +9) unstreamlined hull 200 feet long, and has
  spin gravity.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-3]
  Hangar Bays (100 tons capacity each).
  [4]
  Control Room (C6 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and six control stations).
  [5]
  Cargo Hold (150 tons).
  [6]
  Habitat (eight labs, briefing room, two cages,
  and five tons cargo).
  [core]
  Habitat (12 cabins, briefing room, gym, and
  five-bed sickbay).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-4]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons of water with 4 mps
  delta-V each).
  [5]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 9).
  [6]
  Engine Room (two workspaces).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-3]
  Fusion Rocket (using water, 0.015G
  acceleration each).
  [4-5]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons of water with 4 mps
  delta-V each).
  [6]
  Fission Reactor (one Power Point).
  [core!]
  Stardrive Engine (FTL-1).
  It has spin gravity (0.15G). Personnel include six control
  crew, one medic, 16 scientists, and two technicians.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL9 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  9
  Enceladus-class 150
  -2/5
  13
  2G/56 mps
  10,000
  404
  +10
  40ASV
  10/10/50
  0
  $293M
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL9 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  9^
  Constellation-class
  100
  -3/5
  13
  0.03G/20 mps
  3,000
  358.2
  +9
  32ASV
  15
  1¥
  $165.9M
  In wisdom gathered over time I have
  found that every experience is a form of
  exploration.
  – Ansel Adams
  
  SPACECRAFT
  10
  ODYSSEY-CLASS
  EXPLORATION SHIP (TL9)
  Using a 3,000-ton (SM +9) unstreamlined hull 400 feet long,
  this craft is designed for long-range interplanetary missions. It
  has a spherical forward section containing the habitat and
  hangar bay, with the central hull devoted to reaction-mass
  tanks and sensors, and the rear to its fission gas-core “nuclear
  light-bulb” engines. Its advanced nuclear rocket engines are
  simpler than a fusion drive (and much cheaper to fuel), and
  represent solid, conservative mid-TL9 engineering. A vessel of
  this class can make direct flights to inner-system planets such
  as Mercury or Mars, or enter a transfer orbit from Earth to
  Jupiter. Due to the relatively slow interplanetary speed, the
  crew may spend much of the journey in hibernation.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Control Room (C6 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and only four control stations).
  [3-4]
  Hangar Bays (100 tons capacity each).
  Front Hull
  System
  [5-6]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons hydrogen with 1.12 
  mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Habitat (four bunkrooms, three labs, gym,
  three-bed sickbay, 16 hibernation 
  chambers, and five tons cargo).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-5]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons hydrogen with 1.12 
  mps delta-V each).
  [6]
  Science array (comm/sensor 9).
  [core]
  Engine Room (two workspaces).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-4]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons hydrogen with 1.12 
  mps delta-V each).
  [5-6]
  Nuclear Light Bulb Engines (0.01G
  acceleration each).
  The Odyssey has exposed radiators. 
  The typical complement consists of six control crew, one
  medic, six scientists, and two technicians.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL9 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  9
  Odyssey-class
  100
  -3/5
  13
  0.02G/10.08 mps 3,000
  208.2
  +9
  16ASV*
  15/10/10
  0
  $88.5M
  * Plus 16 hibernation chambers, although these are intended for the crew.
  KILROY-CLASS ARMORED
  SCOUT SHIP (TL10^)
  This is a medium-sized exploration starship designed for
  operation by a small crew. It’s a tough vessel, used to explore
  dangerous or disputed regions of interstellar space. The Kilroy
  has modest armaments and good scientific sensors, a decent
  cargo capacity and onboard lab facilities. This scout ship is
  probably too expensive for most private explorers, but is suit-
  able for a corporate contact-and-trade team or a survey service.
  It has a streamlined 1,000-ton hull (SM +8) 300 feet long.
  Designed to make detection difficult, it is used for covert sur-
  veys of low-tech worlds. Its wings allow it to glide down into
  atmosphere without using the fusion drive.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (total dDR 14).
  [3]
  Tertiary Battery (four fixed mount 20cm
  missile launchers, 39 tons cargo).
  [4]
  Habitat (two cabins, two bunkrooms, 
  two-bed sickbay).
  [5]
  Habitat (two labs and 10 tons cargo).
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 9).
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and four control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (total dDR 14).
  [3-4]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons of hydrogen with 7.5 
  mps delta-V each).
  [5]
  Hangar Bay (30 tons capacity).
  [6!]
  Tertiary Battery (one turret with 10 MJ UV
  laser, 43.5 tons cargo).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 7).
  [2-3]
  High-Thrust Fusion Torch Engines 
  (1G acceleration each).
  [4]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  [5-6!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points, 200 years
  endurance).
  It is winged, with a stealth hull and dynamic chameleon
  surface.
  Personnel include four control crew, one medic, four scien-
  tists, one technician, and one turret gunner.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10^
  Kilroy-class
  70
  -1/5
  13
  2G/15 mps
  1,000
  123.7
  +8
  12ASV
  14/14/7
  2¥
  $101.5M
  
  SPACECRAFT
  11
  EINSTEIN-CLASS
  EXPLORATION
  RAMSHIP (TL11)
  This type of sublight starship is also called a ram-augmented
  interstellar rocket. Built with an unstreamlined 10,000-ton hull
  (SM +10), it relies on a fusion rocket engine and high-capacity
  fuel tanks to accelerate to 1,800 mps (1% of light speed). It then
  uses its ramscoop to gather reaction mass from the tenuous
  interstellar hydrogen clouds that exist between the stars and
  accelerates to 50% or more of light speed, protected against
  dust collisions by its ramscoop and tough hull. Its laser elimi-
  nates larger chunks of debris in its way.
  This vessel is intended for multiyear voyages, in ship time
  . . . thanks to relativistic time-dilation, this might mean cen-
  turies or millennia pass in the outside universe while it cruises
  at high fractions of light speed! Such a craft may even become
  a time capsule to the future, whose crew are the only ones in
  the universe who remember their own society – or even their
  own species.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 50).
  [2!]
  Ramscoop*.
  [3]
  Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor
  10, and 10 control stations).*
  [4]
  Hangar Bay (300 tons capacity).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [5!]
  Medium Battery (one fixed mount very 
  rapid fire 100MJ improved UV laser, 
  300 tons cargo).*
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 12).*
  [core]
  Habitat (20 cabins with total life support, 
  bar, gym, school room, four labs, office, 
  and five-bed sickbay).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 50).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons hydrogen with 252 mps
  delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 50).
  [2]
  Fusion Rocket (0.005G acceleration).*
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (500 tons hydrogen with 252 mps
  delta-V each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points and 1,500
  years endurance).*
  * One workspace each.
  The spacecraft has
  exposed radiators. The
  typical 
  complement
  consists of 10 control
  crew, a medic, eight
  scientists, a teacher,
  and eight technicians.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11
  Einstein-class
  150
  -5/5
  13
  0.005G/2,268 mps*
  10,000
  604
  +10
  40ASV
  50
  0
  $1,532M
  * Near-c with ramscoop.
  DIRAC-CLASS EXPLORATION
  CRUISER (TL12^)
  This fast sublight exploration vessel is built using an
  unstreamlined 30,000-ton (SM +11) hull 500 feet long. With its
  antimatter pion drive it accelerates to a maximum of 23% of
  light speed, using its magnetic sail to decelerate. However, nor-
  mal cruising speed for a two-way mission is 20,000 mps (10%
  of light speed) to ensure enough fuel to return home, since it’s
  unlikely it can find antimatter fuel at the destination!
  Even a relatively short interstellar voyage can take 30-50
  years, so the crewmembers have hibernation chambers to
  sleep through the trip. Its tough front hull of diamonoid armor
  is designed to protect against high-velocity dust impacts. The
  starship has room for a thousand tons of landing craft and
  expeditionary equipment.
  The major obstacle to building a vessel of this sort is man-
  ufacturing 6,750 tons of antimatter for the reaction. Scenarios
  where this is economically feasible involve covering a barren
  world (e.g., Mercury or the moon) with large numbers of
  robotic self-replicating solar-powered antimatter factories.
  As a spacecraft approaches the speed of light, time
  seems to run more slowly from the perspective of those
  aboard it. Time dilation and other relativistic effects are
  covered in GURPS Space (see Relativity Effects, p. 36).
  Time dilation can be mostly ignored below 15% of light
  speed, but increases as the speed of light is approached.
  For example, at 50% of light speed, ship time is 0.866 of
  planetary time; at 90% the time rate is 0.436. The for-
  mula is:
  R = Square root of [1 - (V/c)2]
  R is the time rate experienced on board ship (relative to
  an unaccelerated frame of reference, e.g., a planet), V is the
  ship’s velocity, and c is lightspeed (186,282 mps).
  Relativistic Travel and Time Dilation
  
  SPACECRAFT
  12
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Diamondoid Armor (total dDR 200).
  [3!]
  Magsail (0.001G acceleration).*
  [4]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 14).*
  [5]
  Hangar Bay (1,000 tons capacity).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [6]
  Control Room (C11 computer, comm/sensor
  12, and only 10 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Diamondoid Armor (dDR 100).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tanks (1,500 tons matter/antimatter
  with 4,760 mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Habitat (50 cabins with total life support, 
  two gyms, 100 hibernation chambers, 
  20 labs, 10 minifac robofacs, 12-bed
  sickbay, and 45 tons cargo).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Diamondoid Armor (dDR 100).
  [2]
  Antimatter Pion Torch (0.1G acceleration).*
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (1,500 tons matter/antimatter
  with 4,760 mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).*
  * Three workspaces per system.
  Crew consists of 10 control, 40 scientists, two medics, and
  21 technicians.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL12 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  12^
  Dirac-class
  200
  -3/5
  13
  0.1G/42,840 mps 30,000
  1,065
  +11
  100ASV* 200/100/100
  0
  $2.91275B
  * Plus 100 hibernation chambers.
  PALOMAR-CLASS
  EXPLORATION
  CRUISER (TL12^)
  This extravagantly equipped starship is built for far-ranging
  exploration and contact missions deep into alien space.
  Constructed with a 300,000-ton (SM +13) 1,500-foot-long
  unstreamlined hull, it is heavily armed (for an exploration
  ship), and is operated by militarized surveys or scout services
  rather than civilian agencies. Despite the defensive armament,
  it is designed with an emphasis on crew comfort for multiyear
  voyages, with spacious cabins and plenty of recreation room.
  Survey missions are carried out using the sophisticated multi-
  purpose array and extensive lab facilities, supplemented by a
  full complement of smaller landing craft carried in the hangar
  bay. Onboard replicator systems permit the crew to survive for
  decades at a time with little or no access to spare parts, and
  teleport projectors facilitate covert contact operations.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Exotic Laminate Armor (dDR 300).
  [2!]
  Medium Battery (three fixed mount 30 GJ
  disintegrators).
  [3]
  Control Room (C12 computer, comm/sensor
  14, and only 20 control stations).*
  [4!]
  Medium Battery (two fixed 64cm warp
  missile launchers, one fixed 30 GJ 
  tractor beam).*
  [5]
  Open Space (2.5 acre recreational park).*
  [6]
  Multipurpose Array (comm/sensor 16).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Habitat (450 luxury cabins with total life
  support, 10 briefing rooms, 20 offices, 
  10 teleport projectors, 10 replicator
  minifacs, and 750 tons cargo).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Exotic Laminate Armor (dDR 300).
  [2!]
  Heavy Force Screen (dDR 700, or dDR 1,400
  with two Power Points).*
  [3]
  Cargo Hold (15,000 tons).
  [4!!]
  Super Stardrive Engine (FTL-2).*
  [5-6]
  Antimatter Reactors (four Power Points
  each).*
  [core]
  Habitat (370 luxury cabins and 20 cells 
  with total life support, five large labs, 
  10 replicators minifac, 40-bed clinic
  sickbay, 20 teleport projectors, and 
  1,550 tons cargo).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Exotic Laminate Armor (dDR 300).
  [2!]
  Subwarp Drive (500G acceleration).*
  [3]
  Hangar Bay (10,000 tons capacity).*
  [4!]
  Subwarp Drive (500G acceleration).*
  [5-6!!]
  Super Stardrives Engine (FTL-2 each).*
  * 30 workspaces per system.
  The starship has artificial gravity and gravitic compen-
  sators. Design switches such as FTL/comm sensor array and
  multiscanner array are common.
  Minimum complement consists of 20 control crew, 100 sci-
  entists, and 480 technicians.
  After the Earth was used up,
  we found a new solar system,
  and hundreds of new Earths
  were terraformed and
  colonized.
  – Shepherd Book, Firefly
  
  SPACECRAFT
  13
  Large exploration, colonization, and survey ships may lack
  the capability to safely perform surface landings and takeoffs.
  To compensate for these deficiencies, they carry smaller craft
  optimized to do so, especially from undeveloped planets.
  Exploration landers may be more robust than ordinary shut-
  tles, and some landing craft have onboard habitats or scientific
  facilities for use as temporary planetary bases.
  ARTEMIS-CLASS
  LANDER (TL8)
  This is a landing craft for use on rocky, airless bodies with
  low gravity, such as the moon or Mercury. Since it can’t rely on
  atmospheric braking, the Artemis must use rocket thrust for
  both landings and takeoff. It is built using a 30-ton (SM +5)
  unstreamlined hull 45 feet long, and is powered by chemical
  rocket engines. The habitat and control room are buried in the
  core to protect against radiation. Its hangar bay can carry
  instrument packages or a ground or air vehicle.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy armor (dDR 2).
  [2-3]
  Hangar Bays (one ton capacity each).
  [4-6]
  Passenger Seats (two seats each).
  [core]
  Control Room (C2 computer, comm/sensor 2,
  and one control station).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2]
  Cargo Hold (1.5 tons).
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons rocket fuel with 0.21
  mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2]
  Chemical Rocket Engine (3G acceleration).
  [3-6, core]
  Fuel Tank (1.5 tons rocket fuel with 0.21 mps
  delta-V each).
  It is operated by a single pilot.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL8 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  8
  Artemis-class
  20
  -1/3
  12
  3G/1.89 mps
  30
  4.2
  +5
  1+6SV
  2
  0
  $291K
  LOWELL-CLASS
  PLANETARY LANDER (TL8)
  This two-stage vessel is designed to land a four-person
  team and their equipment on worlds that possess a very thin
  or better atmosphere. It differs from the Artemis-class in that
  it serves as a long-term habitat. This particular design is opti-
  mized for a Mars landing (see the Mars Mission box, p. 8) – in
  such a role, it serves as the fourth stage of a Nova-class
  rocket, attached to the Nova III Chariot-class nuclear
  booster’s (p. 7) third stage.
  Lowell-Class Lander (TL8)
  The landing stage uses a 100-ton (SM +6) streamlined hull.
  It aerobrakes and then employs its soft-landing system.
  The upper third of the hull is devoted to an Ascent Vehicle.
  Key systems include a fabricator that recycles components and
  provides long-term self-repair capabilities, plenty of cargo
  space for supplies, two labs, and a hangar for a three-ton rover
  or other vehicle. The system can then serve as a base for sev-
  eral months of exploration of the surface.
  After the mission is complete, the Ascent Vehicle blasts off
  to rendezvous in orbit with a supporting spacecraft. In the
  sample Mars mission this is a separately launched Phobos-
  class rocket serving as an Earth Return Vehicle.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-6]
  Upper Stage (Ascent Vehicle).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2-3]
  Habitat (one lab, split between both systems).
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL12 HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT
  12^
  Palomar-class
  500
  0/5
  13
  1,000G/c
  300,000
  27,472
  +13
  1,680ASV
  300*
  6¥
  $82.785B
  * Plus dDR 700 force screen (dDR 1,400 if using two Power Points).
  Top air speed is 7,900 mph.
  EXPLORATION LANDERS
  Curiosity is the essence of human
  existence and exploration has been part of
  humankind for a long time. 
  – Gene Cernan
  
  SPACECRAFT
  14
  Central Hull
  System
  [4!]
  Fabricator ($5K/hour production capacity).
  [5]
  Soft-Landing System.
  [6]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  [core]
  Habitat (bunkroom).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 2).
  [2-3]
  Habitat (one lab, split between both systems).
  [4-5]
  Cargo Holds (five tons each).
  [6]
  Hangar Bay (three tons capacity).
  [core]
  Fission Reactor (one Power Point, 25 years
  endurance).
  Personnel include two scientists, one technician, and one
  pilot (the last mans the Ascent stage).
  Lowell-Class Ascent Vehicle (TL8)
  This is the upper stage of the Lowell-class Landing Vehicle.
  Its chemical rocket engines have 3.12 mps of delta-V, enough
  to lift off from a Mars-like world and rendezvous in low orbit
  with a mothership or separately launched return spacecraft. It
  carries five crew and several tons of cargo (samples, provi-
  sions, etc.) in its 30-ton (SM +5) streamlined hull.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 1).
  [2]
  Control Room (C2 computer, comm/sensor 2,
  and one control station).
  [3-4]
  Passenger Seats (two seats each).
  [5-6]
  Cargo Holds (1.5 tons each).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons rocket fuel with 0.24
  mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Chemical Rocket Engine (3G acceleration).
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons rocket fuel with 0.24
  mps delta-V each).
  It is operated by a single pilot.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL9 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  9
  Helldiver-class
  30
  0/4
  12
  2G/5.67 mps
  100
  3.8
  +6
  2+6SV
  5
  0
  $12.31M
  Top air speed is 3,500 mph. In atmosphere, Hnd/SR is +4/5.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL8 (AEROSPACE)
  8
  Lowell Lander
  30
  –
  14
  –
  100
  13.4
  +6
  4ASV
  0/2/2
  0
  $8.04M
  PILOTING/TL8 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  8
  Lowell Ascent 
  Vehicle
  20
  -1/3
  12
  3G/3.12 mps
  30
  3.5
  +5
  1+4SV
  1/0/0
  0
  $285K
  HELLDIVER-CLASS
  ARMORED LANDER (TL9)
  This rugged high-performance spacecraft is designed for
  orbital and atmospheric operations. It uses a 100-ton (SM +6)
  streamlined winged hull 120 feet long. It glides down from
  orbit and uses its fission ram-rockets for atmospheric cruising.
  It also flies back into orbit, boosting from a planetary surface
  to rendezvous with a mothership. Thanks to its powerful
  engines, it operates not only in terrestrial atmospheres but in
  the upper atmospheres of high-gravity worlds such as gas
  giants. Its robust construction keeps it safe in such hostile envi-
  ronments, with its habitat and control room buried in the core
  to protect against radiation.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 5).
  [2]
  Hangar Bay (three tons capacity).
  [3]
  Enhanced Array (comm/sensor 6).
  Front Hull
  System
  [4-6]
  Fuel Tanks (five tons hydrogen and 0.63 mps
  delta-V each).
  [core]
  Control Room (C5 computer, comm/sensor 4,
  and two control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tanks (five tons hydrogen and 0.63 mps
  delta-V each).
  [core]
  Passenger Seats (six seats).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 5).
  [2]
  Fuel Tank (five tons hydrogen and 0.63 mps
  delta-V each).
  [3-6]
  Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engines 
  (ram-rocket, 0.5G acceleration each).
  It has emergency ejection and a winged hull. The typical
  complement consists of a pilot and co-pilot.
  
  SPACECRAFT
  15
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10
  Komarov-class
  20
  0/4
  13
  0.6G/5.76 mps
  30
  3.7
  +5
  1+6SV
  3/2/2
  0
  $890K
  Top air speed is 3,400 mph. In atmosphere, Hnd/SR is +4/5.
  KOMAROV-CLASS
  WINGED LANDER (TL10)
  This is a compact, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle using anti-
  matter rocket engines to achieve high performance. This per-
  mits landing and takeoff from high-G worlds. It is designed to
  glide in for a landing from orbit, but it can operate from a ver-
  tical position. The Komarov uses a streamlined 30-ton (SM +5)
  hull 50 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 3).
  [2-3]
  Cargo Holds (1.5 tons each).
  [4-6]
  Passenger Seats (two seats each).
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Control Room (C6 computer, comm/sensor 4,
  and one control station).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 2).
  [2-6, core]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons antimatter-catalyzed
  water with 0.72 mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 2).
  [2-3]
  Fuel Tanks (1.5 tons antimatter-catalyzed
  water with 0.72 mps delta-V each).
  [4-6]
  Antimatter Thermal Rocket Engines (with
  water, 0.2G acceleration each).
  It has a winged hull. It is operated by a single pilot.
  GRISSOM-CLASS
  EXPLORATION
  SHUTTLE (TL11^)
  This is a small but tough reactionless drive shuttlecraft,
  capable of operating in hostile or primitive conditions. Its large
  central hangar bay is used for vehicles, cargo, or captive spec-
  imens, and sophisticated scientific sensors. Its 30-ton (SM +5)
  streamlined hull is 50 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Nanocomposite Armor (total dDR 10).
  [3]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 7).
  [4-6]
  Passenger Seats (two seats each).
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Control Room (C7 computer, comm/sensor 5,
  and one control station).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-6]
  Hangar Bays (one ton capacity each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-4!]
  Hot Reactionless Engines (2G acceleration
  each).
  [5-6]
  Cargo Holds (1.5 tons each).
  [core]
  Super Fusion Reactor (de-rated, three Power
  Points).
  Hangar bays 2-6 in the central hull are combined into one
  large bay. The shuttle is operated by a single pilot.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11^
  Grissom-class
  20
  0/4
  12
  6G/c
  30
  8.7
  +5
  1+6SV
  10/5/5
  0
  $2,055K
  Top air speed is 6,100 mph.
  And so man’s search for intelligent life on other planets and
  in other galaxies will continue. For this is the heart and
  meaning of that great adventure – the exploration of the
  universe.
  – Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
  
  SPACECRAFT
  16
  These scientific craft are designed for follow-up expeditions
  on astronomical, planetary, biological, or sociological surveys.
  For example, biological survey ships serve as a base for the
  hunting, capture, or study of alien life forms found during a
  long-ranged study, and a means of transporting specimens or
  trophies home.
  ORPHEUS-CLASS
  INTERPLANETARY SURVEY
  SHIP (TL10)
  This fusion drive-propelled vessel carries manned scientific
  expeditions to the outer planets and moons in the solar system,
  or to the icy bodies of the Kuiper Belt. It has an onboard chem-
  ical refinery for processing fuel at the destination. It uses an
  unstreamlined 3,000-ton hull (SM +9) 200 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Habitat (eight labs, three offices, and robofac
  minifac).
  [3]
  Hangar Bay (100 tons capacity).
  Front Hull
  System
  [4]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 10).
  [5]
  Habitat (five cabins with total life support,
  two gyms, four-bed automed sickbay, 
  10 tons cargo).
  [6]
  Cargo Hold (150 tons).
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 8,
  and six control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-4]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons hydrogen with 36 mps
  delta-V each).
  [5!]
  Chemical Refinery (50 tons/hour).
  [6]
  Engine Room (two workspaces).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-3]
  High-Thrust Fusion Rocket Engines (0.01G
  acceleration each).
  [4-6]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons hydrogen with 36 mps
  delta-V each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (de-rated, one Power Point).
  It has spin gravity (0.15G). The typical complement consists
  of six control crew, one medic, and two technicians.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10
  Orpheus-class
  100
  -3/5
  13
  0.02G/216 mps
  3,000
  261
  +9
  10ASV
  15
  0
  $146M
  DARWIN-CLASS BIO-SURVEY
  STARSHIP (TL10^)
  This vessel is small enough to be operated by a private com-
  pany rather than a government. Its streamlined 1,000-ton hull
  (SM +8) is 150 feet long. It carries laboratories for on-site
  research, and cages for living samples. The hangar bay holds
  small craft or ground vehicles, but is also useful for the capture
  and storage of large creatures – by flooding it, even a whale-
  sized aquatic creature could be accommodated.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 7).
  [2-5]
  Hangar Bay (30 tons capacity each).
  [6]
  Habitat (six cabins).
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and four control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 7).
  [2-3]
  Habitats (six cells each).
  [4]
  Habitat (two labs and two-bed sickbay).
  [5!]
  Tertiary Battery (one 10MJ improved laser
  turret, 43.5 tons cargo).
  [6]
  Engine room (one workspace).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 7).
  [2]
  Fusion Torch Engine (with water, 1.5G
  acceleration).
  [3-4]
  Fuel Tanks (five tons water with 5 mps 
  delta-V each).
  [5-6!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).
  It has spin gravity (0.1G). Personnel include four control
  crew, one medic, four scientists, one technician, and one turret
  gunner.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10^
  Darwin-class
  70
  -1/5
  13
  1.5G/10 mps
  1,000
  169.5
  +8
  60ASV
  7
  2¥
  $62.6M
  Top air speed is 3,100 mph.
  SCIENCE AND SURVEY VESSELS
  
  SPACECRAFT
  17
  SERENGETI-CLASS
  BIO-SURVEY SHIP (TL10^)
  This small starship descends to a planet and performs a
  preliminary biological survey. Its streamlined 300-ton (SM
  +7) hull relies on contragravity supplemented by reactionless
  drives for quiet landings and takeoffs. The same design is
  popular as a safari ship for private or commercial hunting
  parties.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 10).
  [2]
  Multipurpose Array (comm/sensor 8).
  [3-5]
  Habitats (two cabins each).
  [6]
  Habitat (two-bed sickbay).
  [core]
  Control Room (C7 computer, comm/sensor 6,
  and three control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-4]
  Habitats (two cells each).
  [5]
  Habitat (one lab).
  [6!]
  Secondary Battery (two turrets with 10 MJ
  improved lasers, 12 tons cargo).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 10).
  [2!]
  Standard Reactionless Engine (0.5G
  acceleration).
  [3]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  [4-5!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).
  [6!]
  Contragravity Lifters.
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).
  It has artificial gravity and a dynamic chameleon surface.
  The typical complement consists of three control crew, one
  medic, two scientists, and one technician. Turrets are controlled
  from the control stations.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT or CONTRAGRAVITY)
  10^
  Serengeti-class
  50
  -2/5
  13
  0.5G/c
  300
  15.6
  +7
  36ASV
  10
  2¥
  $28.2M
  Top air speed is 1,800 mph. In atmosphere, Hnd/SR is 0/5.
  COLUMBIA-CLASS
  SURVEY SHIP (TL11^)
  A medium-sized mobile research vessel, the Columbia is for
  both survey and exploration missions. It is built using a 1,000-
  ton (SM +8) unstreamlined hull. The many laboratories can be
  configured for one specific type of scientific mission (e.g., bio-
  logical survey), or it can carry several different labs for a com-
  plete planetary study. The living quarters are in the front hull,
  the laboratories and sensors are in the central hull, and the
  engineering section and hangars are in the rear hull. The cen-
  tral cages or cells (for specimens) may be replaced by labs or
  briefing rooms if no biological work is performed.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 10).
  [2]
  Habitat (five cabins and one briefing room).
  [3]
  Habitat (six cabins).
  [4]
  Habitat (six-bed sickbay).
  [5]
  Habitat (four cabins and one gym).
  [6]
  Habitat (two cabins and four bunkrooms).
  [core]
  Control Room (C9 computer, comm/sensor 8,
  and four control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 10).
  [2]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 10).
  [3!]
  Tertiary Battery (one turret with 10 MJ UV
  laser, 43.5 tons cargo).
  Central Hull
  System
  [4-6]
  Habitats (three labs each).
  [core]
  Habitat (four cells, robofac minifac, and
  briefing room).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 10).
  [2]
  Hangar Bay (30 tons capacity).
  [3]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  [4!]
  Standard Reactionless Engine (1G
  acceleration).
  [5!]
  Stardrive Engine (FTL-1).
  [6]
  Fusion Reactor (de-rated, one Power Point).
  It has artificial gravity (which may be turned off in areas
  that require zero-G for research). 
  Personnel include four control crew, one medic, 18 scien-
  tists, two technicians, and one turret gunner.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11^
  Columbia-class
  70
  -1/5
  13
  1G/c
  1,000
  80.1
  +8
  66ASV
  10
  1¥
  $56.6M
  
  SPACECRAFT
  18
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11^
  Roswell-class 
  50
  0/5
  13
  50G/c
  300
  16.6
  +7
  16ASV
  15*
  3¥
  $52M
  * Plus dDR 50 force screen.
  Top air speed is 1,800 mph.
  ROSWELL-CLASS COVERT
  SURVEY SHIP (TL11^)
  This is a fast, long-ranged, and stealthy special-operations
  vessel designed to insert and retrieve first-contact or covert-
  survey teams on high-tech worlds without being detected by
  radar or passive sensors. It has an unstreamlined 300-ton (SM
  +7) hull 60 feet in diameter. Reactionless drives allow silent
  landing and takeoff. It is armed for self-defense and for pro-
  tecting landing parties, but normally it relies on its cloaking
  device to avoid detection and stay out of trouble.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Multipurpose Array (comm/sensor 9).
  [3]
  Habitat (two cells).
  [4]
  Habitat (two-bed automed sickbay).
  [5]
  Habitat (lab).
  [6]
  Cargo Hold (15 tons).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 15).
  [2!]
  Cloaking Device.
  [3!]
  Light Force Screen (dDR 50).
  [4!]
  Medium Battery (two turrets with 30 MJ
  improved particle beams, one turret 
  with a 30 MJ tractor beam).
  [5-6]
  Habitats (two cabins each).
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and three control stations).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 15).
  [2!]
  Super Reactionless Engine (50G acceleration).
  [3]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  [4-6!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).
  [core]
  Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points).
  It has artificial gravity and gravitic compensators. The typical
  complement consists of three control crew, two scientists, one
  technician, and one turret gunner (the other turret is run from
  the control stations).
  STAR HUNTER-CLASS COVERT
  SURVEY SHIP (TL12^)
  Tough skin and a variety of ultra-tech defenses protect this
  small, stealthy superscience survey vessel. It is optimized for
  transporting specialists on covert contact missions, but can
  also venture into almost any situation and have a reasonable
  chance of coming back with useful information. It uses a
  streamlined 1,000-ton hull (SM +8) 150 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Exotic Laminate Armor (dDR 30).
  [2!]
  Major Battery (fixed mount 300 MJ
  disintegrator).
  [3]
  Habitat (three labs).
  [4]
  Cargo Hold (50 tons).
  [5]
  Habitat (four teleport projectors, two-bed
  automed sickbay).
  [6!]
  Medium Battery (three fixed mounts with
  28cm warp missile launchers).
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor
  9, and four control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Exotic Laminate Armor (dDR 30).
  [2!]
  Heavy Force Screen (dDR 100, or dDR 200
  with two Power Points).
  [3!]
  Stasis Web.
  [4!]
  Cloaking Device.
  [5]
  Habitat (three cabins with total life support).
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 11).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Exotic Laminate Armor (dDR 30).
  [2-3!]
  Super Stardrive Engines (FTL-1, or FTL-2 if
  given two Power Points, each).
  [4-5!]
  Super Reactionless Engines (100G
  acceleration each).
  [6]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  [core]
  Total Conversion Reactor (five Power Points).
  It has artificial gravity and gravitic compensators. Personnel
  include four control crew, six scientists, and one technician.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL12 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  12^
  Star Hunter-class
  70
  +1/5
  13
  200G/c
  1,000
  50.6
  +8
  6ASV
  30*
  4¥
  $444.5M
  * Plus force screen (dDR 100, or dDR 200 if using two Power Points).
  Top air speed is 35,000 mph.
  
  SPACECRAFT
  19
  GENESIS-CLASS COLONIAL
  TRANSPORT (TL10^)
  This vessel is a large colonization ship intended to carry
  4,000 colonists with their belongings, basic industrial equip-
  ment, and livestock across the stars. For its size, it is an effi-
  cient design, using a 30,000-ton (SM +11) unstreamlined hull
  450 feet long, and propelled by a fusion torch drive and a
  stardrive. It’s not capable of landing on a terrestrial world, but
  has room for several surface-to-orbit shuttles in its hangar bay
  if the destination lacks a space station.
  These may be subsidized by the government. In addition to
  carrying settlers, they make capable troop transports. While not
  designed for landing assault forces under fire, the Genesis-class
  could easily carry a combat brigade and its equipment, replac-
  ing its civilian shuttles with military drop ships and fighters.
  A colonial voyage is normally preceded with a visit to the sys-
  tem by exploration ships or unmanned probes, although opti-
  mistic or desperate colonists rely on long-range astronomical
  observations, especially in the era of slower-than-light travel.
  A viable, self-sustaining colony should have about 10,000
  people to have a good chance of social and genetic stability.
  Colony ships – there may be one or many – also establish tem-
  porary outposts (see GURPS Space, p. 90) that require exter-
  nal support and supply.
  A colony can be successful with a smaller population; his-
  torical examples of only a few hundred settlers have produced
  viable outposts such as the Polynesians in New Zealand. Tiny
  groups (anywhere from a dozen to a hundred people) are at
  great risk of being wiped out by a disaster, lack of proper skills
  to handle an emergency, or, over the long term, a lack of
  genetic diversity that leaves them vulnerable to disease.
  However, even these may survive if they benefit from external
  support, ultra-tech such as extensive use of robots or genetic
  engineering, and/or a regular influx of new immigrants after
  the original colony is established.
  These vessels are designed for the rapid transport of 
  settlers to new or undeveloped worlds. Comfort is rarely a prior-
  ity (with the exception of generation ship designs). Transports
  may resemble commercial liners, but they replace luxury cabins
  and amenities with austere bunkrooms to gain plenty of cargo
  space. Transport costs are subsidized by whatever nation or
  organization sets up the colony. Well-funded pioneers may travel
  in a fleet of ships to provide redundancy in the event of disaster,
  and to allow various specialized vessels to accompany the colo-
  nial carriers: mining craft, cargo ships filled with heavy equip-
  ment, science vessels, or military escorts.
  Some colony ships are intended for round trips – either
  their owners intend to use them to plant more than one settle-
  ment, or it provides a means of evacuation if something goes
  wrong. Others are used for one-way voyages, with the empty
  ship either serving as a space station, or landing and being dis-
  mantled to provide the basic high-tech infrastructure (power
  plants, factories, etc.) for the colonists’ first encampment.
  Generation ships (pp. 21-22) and prison transports (pp. 24-25)
  are specialized types of colony ship.
  They may be privately funded or subsidized by a govern-
  ment (perhaps under a “bureau of colonization” or similar
  agency). They’re also created to carry refugees to escape an
  interstellar war or other existential disaster.
  MAYFLOWER-CLASS
  COLONIAL TRANSPORT (TL9)
  Using a 3,000-ton unstreamlined hull 400 feet long, this
  late-TL9 fusion-drive spacecraft is designed to transport a
  small startup colony across short interplanetary distances –
  e.g., from Earth orbit to Mars orbit – plus shuttle craft capa-
  ble of landing. It rotates to provide spin gravity for its occu-
  pation. Onboard accommodations are Spartan, but it carries
  300 colonists plus the crew.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-5]
  Habitat (20 bunkrooms each).
  [6]
  Habitat (two offices, one lab, one gym, 
  one nursery, one schoolroom, and 
  10-bed clinic sickbay).
  [core]
  Control Room (C6 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and six control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-3]
  Hangar Bays (100 tons capacity each).
  [4-5]
  Fuel Tanks (150 tons nuclear fuel pellets with
  6 mps delta-V each).
  [6]
  Engine Room (two workspaces).
  [core]
  Cargo Hold (150 tons).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 10).
  [2-5] 
  Fuel Tank (150 tons nuclear fuel pellets with
  6 mps delta-V each).
  [6]
  Fusion Pulse Drive Engine (0.02G
  acceleration).
  It has exposed radiators and spin gravity (0.15G).
  The typical complement consists of six control crew, one
  medic, and two technicians. Passengers are the scientists, care-
  givers, and teachers for the labs, nursery, and schoolroom.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL9 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  9
  Mayflower-class 100
  -3/5
  13
  0.02G/36 mps
  3,000
  382
  +9
  320ASV
  10
  0
  $64.4M
  COLONY SHIPS
  
  EXODUS-CLASS COLONIAL
  TRANSPORT (TL11^)
  Like many superscience colonial vessels, this is a very large
  but relatively low-cost spacecraft. It is designed to carry 17,000
  people and plenty of supplies across interstellar space directly
  to the surface of a new planet. It has a 100,000-ton (SM +12)
  streamlined hull 800 feet long. A single Exodus can found a siz-
  able self-sustaining colony in one trip. Most colonists are car-
  ried in simple bunkrooms, but it has a few cabins for officials
  and well-off emigrants. This transport does not have onboard
  manufacturing capacity – any factories are dismantled and
  carried as cargo.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-5]
  Habitats (600 bunkrooms each).*
  [6]
  Habitat (475 cabins, five offices, 10
  schoolrooms, 100-bed hospital sickbay).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Control Room (C11 computer, comm/sensor
  12, and 20 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-4]
  Habitat (600 bunkrooms each).*
  [5-6]
  Cargo Holds (5,000 tons each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Hangar Bay (3,000 tons capacity).*
  [3-4!]
  Standard Reactionless Engines (1G
  acceleration each).*
  [5-6!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).*
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).*
  * 10 workspaces per system.
  It has spin gravity (0.5G). The typical complement consists
  of 20 control crew, 10 medics, and 150 technicians.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 15).
  [2-5]
  Habitats (200 bunkrooms each).*
  [6]
  Habitat (50 cabins, 100 bunkrooms, four
  gyms, four nurseries, four schoolrooms, 
  two briefing rooms, 24-bed clinic
  sickbay).*
  [core]
  Control Room (C9 computer, comm/sensor
  10, and only 10 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Habitat (100 cells and 500 tons cargo).*
  [3]
  Habitat (200 bunkrooms).*
  [4]
  Cargo Hold (1,500 tons).
  [5-6]
  Hangar Bays (1,000 tons capacity each).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Fusion Torch Engine (0.5G acceleration).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [3-4]
  Fuel Tanks (1,500 tons hydrogen with 15 mps
  delta-V each).
  [5-6!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).*
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points, 200 years
  endurance).*
  * Three workspaces per system.
  It has spin gravity (0.3G). Personnel include 10 control crew
  and 48 technicians. Caregivers, teachers, etc. are drawn from
  the passengers.
  SPACECRAFT
  20
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10^
  Genesis-class
  200
  -2/5
  13
  0.5G/30 mps
  30,000
  4,490
  +11 4,900ASV
  15
  2¥ $1,816.75M
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11^
  Exodus-class
  300
  -2/5
  13
  2G/c
  100,000
  14,775
  +12
  17,750ASV
  15
  2¥
  $4,280M
  Top air speed is 3,500 mph.
  It’s an extraordinary new world, and survival is simply a matter of reaching
  deep enough to find the extraordinary in ourselves.
  – Morgan Martin, Earth 2 #1.12
  
  These “space arks” are colony starships designed for inter-
  stellar travel at velocities significantly below light speed. This
  greatly reduces the drive technology required for the vessel, but
  means trips to even nearby stars may take anywhere from
  decades to several millennia! To compensate, the builders plan
  for the crew to live out their lives, have children, and raise
  them, all onboard.
  Depending on the voyage length, multiple generations may
  be born, live, and die on the ship before it ever reaches its des-
  tination. It can have fewer inhabitants than a colony, since the
  environment aboard is much more forgiving! It should start
  with at least 500 to 1,000 occupants (to ensure genetic diversity
  and a stable community), although voyages with smaller num-
  bers can be attempted at greater risk. Care must be taken to
  ensure the vessel’s systems are self-sustaining (total life support
  on all habitats) and that there are onboard repair and manu-
  facturing facilities to handle any malfunctions.
  Generation ships can be combined with longevity or even
  immortality technology – in such cases the vessel is designed to
  support the original crew and their descendants, and everyone
  gets to see the destination. A variant concept is a hybrid
  sleeper/generation ship in which the crew spend part of their
  time living and raising families aboard the vessel, but extend
  their lives through suspended animation.
  Science-fiction scenarios involving these ships often feature
  concepts such as computer-controlled vessels whose succeed-
  ing generations forget they are aboard a ship, the development
  of unique societies aboard such a craft, or conflicts between
  those who consider the ship their home and those who want to
  continue the original mission.
  Although a popular space-opera trope is a single generation
  ship, it is much safer to send two or more vessels, especially if
  inhabitants can transfer between them.
  UNIVERSE-CLASS
  GENERATION SHIP (TL10)
  This is an immense antimatter-powered starship built
  inside a hollowed-out asteroid. It’s intended to cruise at 1/500
  of light speed, taking two or three thousand years to travel
  between neighboring star systems. It can perform longer
  journeys using a “stepping stone” approach: It has sufficient
  industrial capacity to stop for decades even in an unpromis-
  ing midpoint solar system, building antimatter production
  facilities where necessary. Its unstreamlined hull masses
  1,000,000 tons (SM +14) and is 1,200 feet long. It contains the
  equivalent of a small town, capable of supporting 6,000 peo-
  ple in comfort. It rotates for artificial gravity, and its onboard
  farmland coupled with its life systems provide total life sup-
  port. Its hangar bays carry a small fleet of supporting craft
  (including, if necessary, armed vessels for self-defense).
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Stone Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Hangar Bay (30,000 tons capacity).*
  [3!]
  Fabricator ($50M/hour production
  capacity).*
  [4!]
  Mining (5,000 tons/hour).*
  [5!]
  Chemical Refinery (15,000 tons/hour).*
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 15).*
  [core]
  Control Room (C11 computer, comm/sensor
  13, and 40 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Stone Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Habitat (3,000 luxury cabins).*
  [3]
  Open Space (five acres of farm).
  [4]
  Habitat (100 mixed establishments such as
  gyms, stores, etc., 500 offices, five major 
  labs, 100 school rooms, 100-bed hospital
  sickbay, and 20,000 tons cargo).*
  [5-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50,000 tons antimatter-boosted
  hydrogen with 144 mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Stone Armor (dDR 15).
  [2]
  Antimatter Plasma Rocket (0.01G
  acceleration).*
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50,000 tons antimatter-boosted
  hydrogen with 144 mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (de-rated to one Power
  Point).*
  * 100 workspaces per system.
  It has spin gravity (1G). Personnel include 1,000 administra-
  tors, 40 control crew, 10 medics, 1,000 scientists, 100 shopkeep-
  ers (business owners, etc.), 100 teachers, and 1,000 technicians.
  SPACECRAFT
  21
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10
  Universe-class
  700
  -5/5
  14
  0.01G/864 mps
  1,000,000
  50,600
  +14
  6,000ASV
  15
  0
  $78.51B
  ENDEAVOR-CLASS
  GENERATION SHIP (TL11)
  This 
  slower-than-light 
  starship 
  is 
  a 
  fast 
  hybrid
  generation/sleeper ship. Propelled by an advanced fusion pulse
  drive engine, Endeavor travels one parsec every 500 years
  (including the time to decelerate), and goes from Sol to Alpha
  Centauri in a “mere” 670 years. Only some of the crew are
  awake at any one time; the rest are in hibernation, so it carries
  a village-sized population at any one time. It is built with a
  300,000-ton (SM +13) unstreamlined hull 750 feet long.
  GENERATION SHIPS
  
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 70).
  [2]
  Habitat (1,000 luxury cabins).*
  [3]
  Habitat (100 stores, 50 offices, three major
  labs, 10 large labs, 50 classrooms, 
  50-bed clinic sickbay, 1,200 hibernation
  chambers, and 2,500 tons cargo).*
  [4]
  Open Space (2.5 acres of garden).*
  [5!]
  Fabricator ($15M/hour production
  capacity).*
  [6!]
  Mining (1,500 tons/hour).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [core]
  Control Room (C11 computer, comm/sensor
  13, and 30 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 30).
  [2]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 15).*
  [3]
  Hangar Bay (10,000 tons capacity).*
  [4-6]
  Fuel Tanks (15,000 tons nuclear fuel pellets
  with 420 mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 30).
  [2]
  Advanced Fusion Pulse Drive (0.005G
  acceleration).*
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (15,000 tons nuclear fuel pellets
  with 420 mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (de-rated, one Power Point).*
  * 30 workspaces per system.
  It has spin gravity (0.7G). The typical complement consists
  of 30 control crew, five medics, 100 administrators, 800 scien-
  tists, 100 shopkeepers, 50 teachers, and 300 techs.
  SPACECRAFT
  22
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11
  Endeavor-class
  500
  -6/5
  14 0.005G/2,940 mps 300,000 12,820
  +13 2,000ASV*
  70/30/30
  0
  $26.285B
  * Plus 1,200 in suspended animation.
  MAGELLAN-CLASS
  WORLDSHIP (TL11^)
  There’s no reason a generation ship has to be a slower-than-
  light design. Even if stardrives are faster than light, transgalac-
  tic and intergalactic voyages can still take generations! If the
  Magellan’s hyperdrive travels at a velocity of several parsecs a
  week without refueling, it would take a century or two to cross
  the Milky Way galaxy, or to travel between it and a satellite
  galaxy such as the Large Magellanic Cloud. Nevertheless, this
  vessel is designed to make the attempt either for exploration
  and settlement, or to flee a galactic war or other cosmic catas-
  trophe. Built with an SM +15 unstreamlined hull, it masses
  3,000,000 tons and is 1,500 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 100).
  [2]
  Habitat (10,000 luxury cabins).*
  [3]
  Habitat (300 mixed establishments, 1,500
  offices, 15 major labs, 300 school rooms, 
  300-bed hospital sickbay, and 70,000 tons
  cargo).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [4]
  Open Space (10 acres of farms).*
  [5]
  Habitat (10,000 luxury cabins).*
  [6]
  Open Space (10 acres of farms).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 100).
  [2!]
  Robofac ($300M/hour production capacity).*
  [3!]
  Mining (15,000 tons/hour).*
  [4]
  Hangar Bay (100,000 tons capacity).*
  [5]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 17).*
  [6!]
  Light Force Screen (dDR 1,000).*
  [core]
  Control Room (C12 computer, comm/sensor
  15, and only 40 control stations).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 100).
  [2!]
  Hot Reactionless Engine (2G acceleration).*
  [3-6!]
  Stardrive Engines (FTL-1 each).*
  [core]
  Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points).*
  * 300 workspaces per system.
  Personnel include 40 control crew, 1,500 administrators, 30
  medics, 3,000 scientists, and 5,100 technicians.
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11^
  Magellan-class
  1,000
  -3/5
  14
  2G/c
  3,000,000
  174,000 +15
  40,000ASV
  100*
  4¥
  $634.339B
  * Plus dDR 1,000 force screen.
  Top air speed is 350 mph.
  From you we will carry the human
  spirit out into space and we will continue
  the explorations that you have begin.
  – John L. Phillips
  
  Seedships are an unmanned alternative to generation ships
  (p. 21-22). These craft travel at relatively slow sublight speeds,
  but their “colonists” exist only in potential, as frozen genetic
  material. A seedship carries plant seeds and animal, human, or
  alien zygotes, as well as the necessary artificial womb growth
  tanks (below) to bring them to term.
  After the ship arrives in system, an exploration crew is
  grown from genetic material, raised and educated by the ship’s
  computer systems and any onboard robots. Indoctrinated with
  the mission to explore or colonize the system, they build infra-
  structure and set up conditions to breed further generations
  naturally or artificially.
  Seedships may establish an entire ecosystem on worlds
  identified by previous probes or telescopic observation as pre-
  biotic, i.e., having the pre-conditions for life where none has
  actually evolved. They could colonize existing ecosystems, or
  even totally transform them using terraforming techniques. If
  an alien seedship appeared in Earth’s skies, this could be a par-
  ticularly terrifying alien invasion: pods dropping from orbit to
  release potent organisms that infest and alter our own ecosys-
  tem. A properly equipped seedship might not require a habit-
  able world (or even a planet) to establish a colony. It could
  dock with a resource-rich asteroid, for example, and use its
  onboard factory systems, robots, and newborn colonists to
  build and populate a large space habitat.
  Over time, a series of seedships might spread a species’
  genetic material through an entire galaxy (or beyond), even
  with slower-than-light technology.
  JOHNNY APPLESEED-CLASS
  SEEDSHIP (TL11)
  This seedship is an unstreamlined 30,000-ton spacecraft
  (SM +11) 450 feet long. It uses a fusion pulse engine with a
  cruising speed of about 1% of light speed, and a magnetic sail
  for braking. It is designed for an unmanned journey to its des-
  tination (often taking centuries or even millennia). Upon
  arrival, onboard robots get to work raising the first generation
  of a few dozen colonists. The ship’s hangar bay carries a range
  of smaller manned and robotic exploration and mining craft to
  locate and gather resources for the vessel’s nanofactory, which
  then builds a larger settlement for the next generation.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite Armor (dDR 70).
  [2]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 50).
  [3]
  Habitat (20 bunkrooms with total life
  support, 1,000 growth tanks, gym, 
  10 nurseries, nine schoolroom, 
  large lab, 20-bed automed clinic sickbay,
  and 150 tons cargo).
  [4]
  Hangar Bay (1,000 tons capacity).
  [5!]
  Magsail (0.001G acceleration for braking/in-
  system propulsion).
  [6!]
  Nanofactory ($30M/hour production
  capacity).
  [core]
  Control Room (C10 computer, comm/sensor
  11, and no control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 50).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tank (1,500 tons fuel pellets with 490
  mps delta-V each).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 50).
  [2]
  Advanced Fusion Pulse Drive (0.005G
  acceleration).
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tank (1,500 tons fuel pellets with 490
  mps delta-V each).
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (de-rated, one Power Point).
  It has exposed radiators and spin gravity (0.3G). It is
  designed for unmanned operation and has total automation.
  SPACECRAFT
  23
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  11
  Johnny 
  Appleseed-class
  200
  -5/5
  14 0.005G/4,410 mps
  30,000
  1,158
  +11
  80ASV
  120/50/50
  0
  $7,682.25M
  SEEDSHIPS
  Growth Tanks
  Growth Tanks (TL9): These artificial wombs can be
  installed in habitats to grow complex organisms
  (including humans) from frozen genetic material
  stored in cargo. 20 growth tanks for human-sized spec-
  imens replace a single cabin; raising an organism to
  the point where it can survive outside the tank requires
  the normal gestation period (e.g., about nine months
  for a human baby). Growth takes the normal time. See
  GURPS Bio-Tech (p. 20-21) for detailed rules.
  So they built this ship in the hopes that their world would be born again far from the reach of
  their enemies.
  – Lotan, Stargate SG-1 #4.1
  
  STAR SEED-CLASS
  FACTORY PROBE (TL11)
  This is an advanced solar-sail powered space probe. It is
  equipped with a nanofactory to reproduce itself at the desti-
  nation, and growth tanks for growing colonists from
  embryos. Usually a squadron of several such probes is
  launched in sequence for redundancy. It is built with a 100
  ton (SM +6) unstreamlined hull. It can make interplanetary
  journeys, diving close to the sun to build up speed or acceler-
  ating via a battery of laser cannons to a high fraction of light
  speed. Its hangar bays carry robots used for exploration and
  construction.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-3]
  Nanocomposite (total dDR 30).
  [4-5]
  Hangar Bay (three tons capacity each).
  [6]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 8).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite (dDR 10).
  [2-6]
  Lightsails (0.0001G acceleration each).
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 6,
  and no control systems).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Nanocomposite (dDR 10).
  [2]
  Solar Panel Array (one Power Point).
  [3]
  Cargo Hold (five tons capacity).
  [4]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 8).
  [5!]
  Mining (0.5 tons/hour).
  [6!]
  Nanofactory ($100K/hour production
  capacity).
  [core]
  Habitat (20 growth tanks).
  It is unmanned with no crew requirements.
  SPACECRAFT
  24
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL11 (LIGHTSAIL)
  11
  Star Seed-class
  30
  -3/4
  13
  0.0005G/c
  100
  11
  +6
  0
  30/10/10
  0
  $30.32M
  PRISON TRANSPORTS
  Prisons are built in remote settings to make escape or res-
  cue attempts difficult, and there is no more isolated a location
  than a distant point in space. If interplanetary or star travel is
  cheap enough to ship convicts to off-world prisons, then spe-
  cialized ships are built for their safe and secure transport.
  Their destination might be a secure jail, or it could be a full-
  fledged penal colony on a harsh frontier world. Penal colonists
  may be free upon reaching their destination, or be forced into
  labor camps, indenture, or slavery.
  A prison ship may make a direct run between a high-popu-
  lation world and the prison or penal colony. However, if one
  world doesn’t generate enough prisoners, vessels may follow a
  circuit of several worlds, picking up a few dozen inmates at
  each stop. They may spend weeks or months aboard before
  arriving at the destination.
  Prison ships are similar to colonial transports, but with
  guards and extra security systems aboard and even fewer
  concessions made to the comfort of their occupants. Some
  also have light armaments to protect against would-be rescue
  attempts.
  CHARON-CLASS
  SLEEPER SHIP (TL10)
  This vessel is a low-cost way to ship prisoners to work from
  orbital stations to asteroid mines. Each transports 72 persons
  in suspended animation. It is built using a 1,000 ton (SM +8)
  unstreamlined hull propelled by a mass driver engine (which
  uses rock for propellant). It is mostly automated but can be
  manned by a crew. It might also be used as a prisoner trans-
  port for permanent transfers.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-4]
  Habitat (24 hibernation chambers each).
  [5!]
  Secondary Battery (one turret with 
  6cm rapid-fire electromagnetic gun, 
  45 tons cargo).
  [6]
  Habitat (cabin, bunkroom, two-bed sickbay,
  10 tons cargo).
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 7,
  and four control stations).
  Suspended Animation 
  and Nanostasis
  At TL10+ spacecraft with hibernation chambers
  may use more effective suspended-animation cap-
  sules or nanostasis tanks to reduce metabolic activity
  to zero or near-zero levels, resulting in no aging even
  on long journeys. No maintenance is needed. See
  GURPS Bio-Tech (p. 146-147) for detailed rules.
  
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Solar Panel Array (one Power Point).
  [2-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons rock dust with 0.42 mps
  delta-V each).
  [core]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Steel Armor (dDR 5).
  [2!]
  Mass Driver Engine (0.01G acceleration).
  [3-6]
  Fuel Tanks (50 tons rock dust with 0.42 mps
  delta-V each).
  It has spin gravity (0.1G). The typical complement consists
  of four control crew, one medic, one technician, and one turret
  gunner. An armed escort brings prisoners into the hibernation
  chambers before takeoff, but since the convicts sleep through
  the voyage, there’s no need to carry a guard force. (Some crew
  may have security training and small arms, however.)
  SPACECRAFT
  25
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (LOW-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10
  Charon-class
  70
  -3/5
  13
  0.01G/3.78 mps
  1,000
  62.8
  +8
  6ASV*
  5/0/5
  0
  $18.1M
  * Plus 72 in suspended animation.
  ALCATRAZ-CLASS COLONIAL
  TRANSPORT (TL10^)
  The Alcatraz transports prisoners, slaves, or involuntary
  colonists across interstellar distances. Its 3,000 ton (SM +9)
  unstreamlined hull is propelled by a stardrive and reactionless
  drive, and carries 180 prisoners in cells.
  At a minimum, security precautions include electronics
  locks, cameras, and barred doors, plus various remote defense
  systems such as a provision for pumping in anesthetic gas.
  Some ships are highly automated with extensive computer
  control and no human contact; others rely on alert guards. One
  of the nastier ways to quell any attempted riot or prison break
  is to simply seal off that part of the ship and threaten to adjust
  the environmental systems. Few prisoners want to risk breath-
  ing vacuum.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (total dDR 30).
  [3-6]
  Habitats (20 cells each).
  [core]
  Habitat (two gyms, briefing room, and 15-bed
  clinic sickbay).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (total dDR 30).
  [3]
  Habitat (two cabins, office, eight bunkrooms,
  briefing room, gym, six-bed sickbay).
  [4!]
  Medium Battery (three 300 MJ improved
  ultraviolet laser turrets).
  [5]
  Hangar Bay (100 tons capacity).
  [6]
  Cargo Hold (150 tons).
  [core]
  Control Room (C8 computer, comm/sensor 8,
  and six control stations).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1-2]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (total dDR 30).
  [3]
  Engine Room (two workspaces).
  [4!]
  Stardrive Engine (FTL-1).
  [5!]
  Standard Reactionless Engine (0.5G
  acceleration).
  [6]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).
  It has artificial gravity. Personnel include six control crew,
  two medics, four scientists, one technician, and three turret
  gunners. There is one guard per 10 convicts, although that
  ratio varies depending on the type of prisoners. Some ships
  rely on robot guards (so they can carry more live prisoners).
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  PILOTING/TL10 (HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPACECRAFT)
  10^
  Alcatraz-class
  100
  -2/5
  13
  0.5G/c
  3,000
  285.6
  +9
  356ASV
  30
  ¥1
  $124.3M
  You’re on your way to the penal colony on Cygnus Alpha. Or you will be when
  the prison ship’s refueled. Try to look on the bright side. It must have something.
  None of the guests have ever left early. In fact, none of them have ever left at all.
  – Vila Restal, Blake’s 7 #1.1
  
  Outpost stations are established in frontier systems, either
  in orbit around a colony planet or in deep space next to a jump
  point or other interstellar travel nexus. They are “jack-of-all-
  trades” facilities, serving as ports, industrial parks, bases for
  mining ships, research stations, or symbols of the government
  or corporation that controls the frontier. Border outposts are
  points of contact between different governments or even alien
  races, offering a cosmopolitan atmosphere; they serve as trade
  and diplomatic centers for multiple cultures or species. In dan-
  gerous or disputed territory, these sites are well-armed and
  may be entirely military in character – or more often, operat-
  ing under joint military and civilian control.
  VAN ALLEN-CLASS
  SPACE LAB (TL9)
  This scientific outpost is a medium-sized orbital laboratory
  complex for scientific research. It is assembled in space from a
  series of modules that combine to form a 300-ton (SM +7)
  unstreamlined hull, and it is manned by 6-18 people. The sci-
  entists and operations crew occupy the forward cabins while
  the central-hull bunkroom is a radiation storm shelter and
  accommodates visiting shuttle crews.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-4]
  Habitat (two cabins each).
  [5]
  Solar Panel Array (with one Power Point).
  [6]
  Habitat (gym).
  [core]
  Control Room (C5 computer, comm/sensor 5,
  and three control stations).
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 5).
  [2]
  Science Array (comm/sensor 7).
  [3-5]
  Habitats (one lab each).
  [6]
  Habitat (two-bed sickbay).
  [core]
  Habitat (bunkroom and five tons cargo).
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 5).
  [2-3]
  Cargo Holds (15 tons each).
  [4!]
  Fabricator ($15K/hour production capacity).
  [5]
  Fuel Tank (15 tons reaction mass, for topping
  up docked spacecraft).
  [6]
  Engine Room (one workspace).
  Personnel include three control crew, one medic, six scien-
  tists, and one technician.
  SPACECRAFT
  26
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  9
  Van Allen-class
  50
  –
  14
  –
  300
  36.6
  +7
  16ASV
  5
  0
  $26.45M
  MARGRAVE-CLASS
  OUTPOST STATION (TL10)
  This large cylindrical craft is a frontier space port. It spins
  to produce artificial gravity and has plenty of hangar bay and
  cargo space capable of docking very large vessels. Built with an
  SM +15 unstreamlined hull, it masses
  3,000,000 tons and is 2,000 feet
  long. Its tanks can refuel visitors’
  reaction drives or store water or
  valuable chemicals. The station is a
  comfortable place to live with large
  green areas and spacious accommo-
  dation for up to 50,000 people. Its
  farms provide total life support. The
  station is equipped with defensive
  weaponry, and may have a few war-
  ships docked in its hangars.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 100).
  [2-3]
  Habitats (10,000 luxury cabins each).*
  [4]
  Habitat (100 school rooms, 10,000 offices, 
  10 major labs, 500-bed hospital sickbay, 
  and 36,500 tons cargo).*
  Front Hull
  System
  [5]
  Open Space (10 acres of farms).*
  [6]
  Enhanced Array (comm/sensor 16).*
  [core]
  Control Room (C11 computer, comm/sensor
  14, and only 40 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 100).
  [2]
  Habitat (5,000 luxury cabins and 5,000 mixed
  establishments).*
  [3]
  Open Space (10 acres of park).*
  [4-5]
  Hangar Bays (100,000 tons capacity each).*
  [6!]
  Tertiary Battery (20 turrets with 64 cm
  missile launchers, 10 turrets with 
  300 MJ very rapid fire UV lasers).*
  [core]
  Fusion Reactor (two Power Points).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Light Alloy Armor (dDR 100).
  [2!]
  Robofac ($300M/hour production capacity).*
  [3]
  Hangar Bay (100,000 tons capacity).*
  [4]
  Fuel Tank (150,000 tons of reaction mass, 
  for refueling other spacecraft).
  [5]
  Habitat (20,000 cabins).*
  [6]
  Cargo Hold (150,000 tons).
  * 300 workspaces per system.
  OUTPOST AND
  RESEARCH STATIONS
  
  Spacecraft may carry scientific packages in hangar bays or
  launchers. These are equivalent to missiles, but replace the
  warhead with a sophisticated comm/sensor array.
  Sensor Drone: This streamlined missile replaces its war-
  head with a Science Array whose capabilities are dependent
  on its caliber. The drone’s onboard power supply operates its
  gear for 15 years, and the comm/sensor array can be con-
  trolled remotely. See GURPS Spaceships 3: Warships and
  Space Pirates (pp. 35-36) for precise missile performance
  capabilities. Each drone costs the same as a conventional
  missile. In combat, it can be used as a conventional missile,
  but it may not be proximity fused; it has a -4 to hit; and it
  does not receive a (2) armor divisor.
  Sensor Probe: This is equivalent to a sensor drone but
  without propulsive capability. It can be placed in orbit
  around a world (or other interesting location), or dropped
  into a planetary atmosphere, descending via parachute. It has
  one-third the cost and mass of a sensor drone, but cannot be
  used as a weapon.
  Armored Sensor Probe: As above, but capable of surviving in
  hostile environments such as the atmosphere of a gas giant or
  on the surface of Venus. It performs like a sensor probe, but
  with same cost and mass as a sensor drone.
  Sensor Probe and Drone Table
  SPACECRAFT
  27
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  10
  Margrave-class
  1,000
  –
  14
  –
  3,000,000
  495,500
  +15
  90,000ASV
  100
  0
  $379.739B
  SMALL SENSOR
  DRONES AND PROBES
  TL
  Spacecraft
  dST/HP
  Hnd/SR
  HT
  Move
  LWt.
  Load
  SM
  Occ
  dDR
  Range
   Cost
  11
  Labyrinth-class
  1,000
  –
  14
  0
  3,000,000
  491,000
  +15
  48,000ASV
  150*
  0
  $1,249.359B
  * Plus dDR 1,000 force screen.
  LABYRINTH-CLASS
  JUMP STATION (TL11^)
  This is a huge spherical outpost sta-
  tion, at the center of which is installed a
  jump gate for receiving spacecraft. It’s
  similar to the TL10 frontier outpost sta-
  tion (see p. 26), but it incorporates many
  superscience refinements. It’s built with
  an SM +15 unstreamlined hull, it masses
  3,000,000 tons and is 2,000 feet long.
  Front Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (DR 150).
  [2-4]
  Open Space (10 acres of farms each).*
  [5]
  Habitat (10,000 luxury cabins).*
  [6]
  Habitat (7,000 cabins, 50 school rooms, 
  50 nurseries, 10,000 offices, 10 major 
  labs, 200-bed hospital sickbay, and 
  3,000 tons cargo).*
  [core]
  Control Room (C12 computer, comm/sensor
  15, and only 40 control stations).*
  Central Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 150).
  [2]
  Habitat (7,000 luxury cabins and 3,000 
  mixed establishments).*
  [3-5!]
  Jump Gates (total 300,000 tons capacity).*
  [6!]
  Secondary Battery (10 turrets with 10 GJ
  rapid fire X-ray lasers).*
  [core]
  Super Fusion Reactor (four Power Points).*
  Rear Hull
  System
  [1]
  Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 150).
  [2]
  Enhanced Array (comm/sensor 17).*
  [3!]
  Nanofactory ($3B/hour production
  capacity).*
  [4]
  Cargo Hold (150,000 tons).
  [5]
  Hangar Bay (100,000 tons capacity).*
  [6!]
  Light Force Screen (dDR 1,000).*
  * 300 workspaces per system.
  It has artificial gravity. Personnel include 40 control crew,
  20 medics, 2,000 scientists, 10 turret gunners, and 4,800 tech-
  nicians. Office workers, shopkeepers, etc. are citizens rather
  than crew.
  Caliber
  Array Level
  Up to 20cm
  TL-9
  24-28cm
  TL-8
  32-40cm
  TL-7
  Caliber
  Array Level
  48-56cm
  TL-6
  64-80cm
  TL-5
  96cm+
  TL-4
  It has spin gravity (max 1.5G). The typical comple-
  ment consists of 40 control crew, 50 medics, 2,000 scien-
  tists, 30 turret gunners, and 4,500 technicians. Office
  workers, shopkeepers, etc. are citizens rather than crew.
  
  This chapter explores the motives of exploration and colo-
  nization missions – motivations that sometimes overlap with
  each other. Additionally, it provides game mechanics for spe-
  cialized tasks performed by survey ships and crews, including
  remote survey procedures, on-site planetary exploration, and
  first contact with new species.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  28
  CHAPTER TWO
  EXPEDITIONS
  AND OPERATIONS
  EXPEDITIONS
  Space exploration may be scientific, military, commercial,
  or private in nature . . . and sometimes all of these at once.
  For example, a mission to determine the source of a strange
  signal from a far-off star system could involve the scientific
  community (who want to solve the mystery and make contact
  with any aliens), the military (who want to assess and neu-
  tralize any alien threats), and large corporations (eager to
  establish trade relations or gain access to alien technology).
  This leads to conflicts as each partner pursues its own
  agenda. The interests and motives behind the mission deter-
  mine the expedition’s character, resources, and goals.
  SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITIONS
  The desire to make discoveries and prove theories is a pow-
  erful motivation for space exploration, especially if there is rea-
  son to believe life can be found on other worlds. Remote
  astronomical observations only reveal the gross physical
  details of the universe. Studying extraterrestrial planetology,
  biology, or ecology, and understanding alien societies requires
  explorers, whether machines or living beings.
  A scientific mission may be tightly focused on one goal
  (“to investigate the red spots moving on the south polar ocean
  of Crompton IV”) or more general (“a five-year mission to
  explore Frontier Sector”). The expedition can be a relatively
  low-key affair like many of today’s unmanned probes, or a
  major commitment such as the Apollo moon-landing pro-
  gram. If spaceflight is relatively inexpensive, universities and
  research institutes may fund interplanetary or interstellar
  expeditions on their own. Major efforts – like those that
  require building new designs of spacecraft – require signifi-
  cant government or corporate funding, and thus need to jus-
  tify their commercial or strategic interests.
  Where spaceflight is expensive, scientific missions may be
  the responsibility of a government space agency. This creates
  tension between missions intended to serve the government’s
  interests and those that are purely scientific in character.
  STRATEGIC AND
  POLITICAL EXPEDITIONS
  Governments sponsor exploration and colonization to gain
  prestige, subsidize jobs in their aerospace industry, determine
  the existence of threats such as hostile aliens, or extend their
  sphere of influence by visiting and claiming new worlds.
  Strategic exploration is also driven by a need to map out
  faster-than-light wormhole or jump points vital to trade and
  naval operations. If two or more spacefaring powers border
  the same unexplored area of space, rival armed expeditions
  may come into conflict as each side races to “plant its flag” on
  new worlds or star systems, or to establish “facts on the
  grounds” by creating colonies. These objectives combine with
  scientific goals, although the science element takes second
  place to political aims.
  This may be handled by a space navy’s warships (with some
  civilian specialists aboard), or by a civilian or paramilitary
  space agency or survey service operating its own dedicated
  exploration and research vessels.
  COMMERCIAL EXPEDITIONS
  Commercial expeditions are motivated by profit, seeking
  out resources to exploit or real estate to claim and sell to
  future colonists. Explorers work directly for interested gov-
  ernments or corporations, or are freelancers hoping to sell
  what they find. Governments also co-sponsor commercial
  expeditions to provide assistance to business or because they
  control the economy.
  The missions are only viable if the return justifies the cost.
  The greatest expense is the spacecraft and fuel to reach the des-
  tination. Business-driven expeditions use commercially avail-
  able equipment to reduce mission costs, though innovative
  ship designs or components are developed when critical to suc-
  cess (or seen as good investments in themselves).
  
  The viability of commercial exploration also depends on the
  legal framework in place. Can explorers claim an entire world
  (including settlement rights and geological and biological
  resources) for themselves? What are the criteria for a claim:
  telescopic detection, first robot landing, first people on the
  ground, or actual homesteading and economic development?
  Is exploration a lawless free-for-all, or does a central body rec-
  ognize, distribute, and sell claims, such as a government, a sci-
  entific agency, or a religion?
  When spaceflight is relatively inexpensive and business
  interests can claim the worlds they investigate, it leads to a
  flurry of economic-based exploration. Even when a govern-
  ment claims all new worlds found in their sphere of influence,
  there’s a niche for corporate and independent explorers who
  receive sizable bounties or royalties (or a monopoly on trading
  rights) for the planets they explore. They might compete with
  illegal “pirate” explorers who operate outside the law, keeping
  their finds secret to allow unregulated exploitation by crimi-
  nals or ruthless corporations. Depending on the nature of the
  government, these rogues are portrayed as heroes or villains.
  Establishing contact with alien species (or long-lost
  colonies) is another objective of business interests, and per-
  haps the ultimate prize of such an expedition. Corporations
  want to establish monopolistic trade deals and gain privileged
  access to new technologies. Ruthless explorers have other
  things in mind, seeking out civilizations or ecologies that can
  be looted and species to enslave. With the advantage of supe-
  rior technology, even a small ultra-tech corporation might take
  complete control of a lower tech-level world!
  Commercial missions have goals beyond claiming and
  exploiting new worlds and civilizations. A media company may
  commission an exploration as part of a documentary on an
  exotic astronomical feature, or tourists may pay to go where
  few have gone before. When alien life is known to exist, some-
  one may want a biological survey expedition. It can take mul-
  tiple missions over decades or centuries before a complex alien
  ecosystem is fully understood. Truly foreign plants, animals,
  and microorganisms are valuable to biotech companies inter-
  ested in marketing new drugs, foodstuffs, and other products.
  There may even be a lucrative market for exotic alien pets.
  MISSIONARY EXPEDITIONS
  If extraterrestrial civilizations exist, religions and quasi-reli-
  gious ideologies may send out missionary expeditions to contact
  and convert aliens. These may be sponsored by churches or the
  government, depending on the role of religion in the society.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  29
  Expeditions need not have a practical goal. Private citi-
  zens may explore space for the challenge itself, seeking
  adventure (and fame). However, going where no one has
  gone before can be an expensive process. Traditionally, com-
  petitions and prizes have inspired people or corporations to
  perform and fund risky ventures. They’re offered by private
  foundations or wealthy individuals with an interest in pro-
  moting space exploration or development, or by media cor-
  porations seeking exposure. Prizes are often given for
  “firsts,” e.g., “first manned landing on Mars” or “first voyage
  to another star.” The goal may have commercial applica-
  tions, with achievement fostering the growth of private
  enterprise in space, and so may also mandate specific tasks
  (transporting passengers or cargo, establishing a base, or
  retrieving specific data or samples). If several groups com-
  pete, it turns into a de facto race – not just to reach the goal
  first, but also to get the funding to build or buy the vessel!
  Historical examples of aerospace prizes include the
  $25,000 Orteig Prize for the first flight across the Atlantic
  Ocean (won by Charles Lindbergh) and the Ansari X-Prize
  of $10 million for the first non-government organization to
  launch a reusable manned spacecraft twice in two weeks
  (won by Tier One’s Spaceship One suborbital craft in 2004).
  It’s rare that a large prize covers the entire cost of a proj-
  ect; Spaceship One cost $25 million to develop. However, if
  a big payout or prestigious trophy is offered, it attracts
  media attention. Local governments, businesses (especially
  those that manufacture or service spacecraft), and individ-
  uals may be interested in sponsoring the team for the pub-
  licity and prestige success brings. Sponsorship likely takes
  the form of a discount on, or donation of, spacecraft com-
  ponents, fuel, or supplies.
  Wheeling and dealing for private endorsements is a sig-
  nificant part of the adventure, especially if the crew is
  attempting to build or custom-refit a spacecraft and needs
  backers willing to donate each component system. Spon-
  sors demand the workers take time out for speeches and
  interviews before and after the expedition, ask them to film
  commercial endorsements, or insist on veto power over
  crew composition or ship design. Characters can exercise
  numerous social skills and perhaps become celebrities in
  their own right even before the vessel is launched.
  PCs could call upon their Patron for sponsorship, or they
  should roleplay finding one through meetings with eccen-
  tric and occasionally sinister individuals or organizations,
  each with its own agenda and preconditions. For example,
  Jupiter Fuels Inc. might provide the expedition with free
  nuclear fuel pellets if they paint the spacecraft with 
  the company logos; Lunar City donates half the cost of the
  fusion drive if they agree to name the ship Spirit of Luna;
  and Lagrange Space Farms offers crew provisions in
  exchange for video of the crew enjoying their signature L5
  Burger. A scientific institute or university might fund a mis-
  sion if the crew performs a pet experiment at the destina-
  tion, or brings one of their researchers along.
  If it’s a race for the prize, a mission may get backing
  simply by appealing to the competitors of the groups that
  sponsor their rivals. This is a two-edged sword, however,
  since a “friendly” event becomes intense when transformed
  into a contest between opposing billionaires, megacorpo-
  rations, or governments. The ship crews are now surro-
  gates for existing rivalries! If reputations are on the line,
  contention could escalate into sabotage before or during
  the mission.
  Adventure Idea: Races and Prizes
  
  COLONIZATION MISSIONS
  Explorers may seek land to colonize. But why should they
  want to cross the depths of space instead of making their
  homeworld’s deserts bloom or mining the sea floor? Some
  possible motivations for extraterrestrial colonization are sug-
  gested below.
  Freedom
  Minority groups whose way of life is threatened by a major-
  ity may desire to found a settlement far from their culture’s
  power and influence. The only way to do this on a crowded
  high-tech planet might be a voyage to another world. The
  group must be powerful enough to afford the venture, but not
  so powerful they could just remain behind to change the sys-
  tem. It’s a strong motivation, whether to escape persecution or
  to create a bold new political or social experiment. A majority
  group may even fund such an effort in order to peacefully exile
  a troublesome minority.
  Population Pressure
  A popular justification for colonizing other worlds is to
  relieve population pressure. In practice, this is difficult. Unless
  space travel is incredibly fast and cheap, it won’t make much
  difference. However, the socioeconomic stresses brought about
  by overpopulation (war, famine, overcrowding, reduced
  resources, lack of jobs, etc.) themselves encourage people to
  seek a better life, even on another world.
  Involuntary Exile
  If transport expenses are modest, a government may opt to
  move criminal or political dissidents to distant colonies, seeing
  exile as a “humane” alternative to imprisonment, reeducation,
  or execution (or just a cheaper or more politically expedient
  alternative, period).
  Religious Imperatives
  Many religions embrace missionary activities, or encour-
  age followers to procreate. Millions of people have spent lives
  and treasure on dangerous pilgrimages and multigenera-
  tional projects (pyramids, cathedrals, etc.) under the impetus
  of faith. Future religions may spread these motivations
  among the cosmos.
  Political Rivalry
  Opposing superpowers can compete through an aggressive
  program of space colonization. However, colonies founded for
  propaganda purposes may face a desperate struggle to survive
  if the political situation changes due to the collapse or distrac-
  tion of the founding power bloc.
  Incremental Colonization
  Sometimes colonization is an accidental side effect of other
  activities. Off-world outposts may be established for scientific,
  economic, or military purposes, using temporary personnel.
  But as they grow and offer more comforts to their inhabitants,
  it may become easier to extend personnel tours than to rotate
  them back. Facilities develop to make the outpost self-support-
  ing; people stationed there for long periods have children who
  see it as their home . . . and eventually, without any prior
  intent, it grows into a de facto colony.
  New Lands, New Resources
  If space travel is affordable, colonization may be for the
  most basic of reasons: to acquire territory to settle and
  resources to ship home. Another, perhaps more likely, option is
  the existence of “triangle trade.” A colony provides goods to
  nearby resource-extraction operations – for example, green-
  houses and other manufacturing facilities on Mars supply an
  asteroid-belt mining operation, which then supplies Earth with
  raw materials, which in turn ships expensive manufactured
  goods to Mars. Such a program might work if it’s cheaper to
  make certain necessities on Mars for sale in the asteroid belt
  than it is to lift them off high-gravity Earth.
  A Better Life
  Historically, wages in new colonies are higher since there’s
  an initial labor shortage. This is especially compelling if there
  is some way of sending a portion of the earnings “back home”
  to support one’s relatives and/or secure their migration to the
  new lands.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  30
  Running Colonization Campaigns
  Most outposts and colonies take years to establish
  and grow. Their operations have little to do with space-
  craft and everything to do with logistical and sociolog-
  ical factors, and the nature and characteristics of the
  world being colonized. These are beyond the scope of
  this book: GMs running such games should refer to
  GURPS Space (p. 13) for colonial and refugee-based
  campaigns and GURPS Space (pp. 90-93) for game
  mechanics (e.g., necessary population, a planet’s carry-
  ing capacity, and growth rates).
  We have to make people lift their eyes back to the horizon, and see the line of ancestors
  behind us, saying, “Make my life have meaning.” And to our inheritors before us, saying, “Create
  the world we will live in.” I mean, we’re not just holding jobs and having dinner. We are in the
  process of building the future.
  – Capt. John Sheridan, Babylon 5 #2.15
  
  Industrial Parks
  A habitable planet like Earth is a complex ecosystem with a
  limited “carrying capacity.” Even the “empty” deserts and oceans
  are part of an interconnected biosphere. Changes, additions, and
  subtractions are unwise. In contrast, lifeless moons, asteroids,
  and empty space itself may be a great place to build megapro-
  jects and locate dangerous or polluting mines and industry.
  To Preserve the Species
  Off-world colonies may be established for the same reason
  people care about secure radioactive waste storage or reversing
  the greenhouse effect. Conservation movements all involve
  present sacrifice to benefit future generations. People spend
  resources on what amounts to a secure off-site backup for the
  species, so all a civilization’s eggs aren’t kept in the same plan-
  etary basket in the event of unforeseen disaster on a planet-
  wrecking (or worse) scale. This can justify interplanetary,
  interstellar, or even extragalactic colonies.
  Refugees from Disaster
  If an existential disaster does occur, there may be time for
  inhabitants to escape the home planet (or solar system, or
  galaxy . . .), to avoid destruction or enslavement and seek new
  homes elsewhere in the cosmos. If there is plenty of warning
  (and sufficient technology and space industry) it’s possible to
  save everyone who wants to leave. Otherwise, only a fraction of
  the population may escape, though this could range from a few
  people to billions. Where time and resources permit, smaller
  survey expeditions should be sent in advance to find suitable
  new homes. Otherwise the colony ships carrying the refugees
  have to do the exploring themselves. They could be in desper-
  ate straits, with vessels that are overcrowded, lack fuel and
  supplies, and hold unskilled passengers who never planned to
  be colonists. Refugees may also have the psychological scars
  from whatever disaster drove them into space, especially if
  only a minority escaped. If they were fleeing war rather than
  natural disaster, they may have enemies on their tail . . .
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  31
  REMOTE SURVEY PROCEDURES
  This section describes the tasks an exploration ship crew
  performs when approaching an unexplored star system. The
  majority of these procedures are intended for interstellar
  exploration, but some are applicable to interplanetary mis-
  sions. They require a vessel’s comm/sensor array, and special-
  ists using it must have access to a control station.
  Acquisition and analysis of survey data requires a signifi-
  cant investment of time, so procedures use long task (p. B346)
  rules. The time can be increased or decreased using the Time
  Spent rules; in cinematic games, attempting them almost
  instantly (at a -10 penalty) is common. The GM may make task
  rolls for the players to keep them in the dark about whether
  they are succeeding.
  OUT-SYSTEM SURVEY TASKS
  These procedures involve remote evaluation and mapping
  of the worlds in a target star system. They can be performed
  over interstellar ranges.
  Survey operations begin long before a spacecraft enters the
  system. A slower-than-light expedition is almost certainly
  directed toward a target that has already been thoroughly stud-
  ied. The destination may have been observed for years, even
  centuries, before any star probes were built. Large telescope
  arrays perform solar-system detection activities at a range of
  dozens of parsecs or more at TL8, and hundreds
  or even thousands at higher TLs. However,
  such endeavors can take months for each scan,
  and the galaxy has billions of stars! Also, sur-
  veys across thousands of light years are thou-
  sands of years out of date unless the sensors
  operate at faster-than-light speeds. Detected
  stars or planets are (usually!) still there, but all
  signs of intelligence such as radio signals are a
  year old for every light year (3.26 years old per
  parsec). Civilizations could have risen, fallen,
  or radically changed by the time their signals arrive. As such,
  even if long-range survey data is available, it’s common for
  exploration spacecraft to perform their own checks as they
  approach to gain more recent information that they can trust.
  Starships that don’t travel through normal space but use
  jump drives or hyperdrives can appear in a system they haven’t
  studied at all. If so, it’s still possible to use any of these out-sys-
  tem procedures from within the star system itself.
  System Mapping
  This involves studying the space around a star to locate
  planets and other bodies. Observers find any gas giants, deter-
  mine the plane of the ecliptic (where most planets orbit), and
  then hunt for smaller worlds and other masses. (Again, if an
  expedition is planned to a well-studied but never-visited sys-
  tem, this data may already be available.)
  System mapping is a long task using Electronics Operation
  (Sensor) skill that takes eight hours per attempt. Explorers
  slowly approaching from many parsecs away can take full
  advantage of extra time and spend as long as 240 hours per
  attempt (at +5 to skill).
  Modifiers: Add the spacecraft’s comm/sensor array level;
  add a further +3 if it has a science or multipurpose array. No
  range modifiers apply within 200 AU of the solar system. Oth-
  erwise, use the Size and Speed/Range Table, but read
  each yard as “100 AU.” A parsec is about 200,000 AU
  and so is roughly equivalent to a “mile” on the table.
  Also, apply a modifier based on the approximate size
  of the largest world in a normal orbit around the
  star: -12 if it’s tiny (like Mercury), -8 if it’s small (Mars)
  or dispersed like an asteroid belt, -6 if standard
  (Earth), and -4 if large (a few times larger than Earth
  but smaller than a gas giant). There’s no penalty if the
  largest world is a gas giant. (See GURPS Space, p. 75,
  for more detailed definitions of various world sizes.)
  
  Completion of system mapping means all planets within
  the plane of the ecliptic are located, and the solar system’s
  general outlines are mapped. The existence of asteroid belts
  (and any Kuiper Belt or Oort cloud) is discovered, as is the
  presence of larger moons (such as Luna or Titan). However,
  tracking down the location of every small planetoid or tiny
  moon and detecting celestial bodies (such as comets and
  Kuiper-Belt objects) with eccentric orbits may take months
  or years of additional work. The presence of any stellar-scale
  megastructures – such as ring worlds and Dyson spheres
  (GURPS Space, p. 133) – is also known.
  System mapping may be a necessary prerequisite for plot-
  ting routes to neighboring stars, locating jump points or
  wormholes, etc.
  Basic Planetary Analysis
  Once system mapping is done, an additional study can be
  made of individual planets. This involves spectroscopic and
  other data to estimate characteristics such as temperature and
  atmospheric composition.
  Successful study also reveals the presence of seas and
  oceans (through detection of water vapor) and key biosigna-
  tures such as abundant atmospheric oxygen and methane
  (the likeliest indicator of carbon-based life on the surface).
  Other clues can come from light reflected from a planet:
  Photosynthetic life-forms (and some artificial constructs)
  polarize reflected light in a uniform fashion, giving it a hand-
  edness not found in random reflections of sunlight from
  atmosphere or rocks.
  Each planetary analysis is a long task requiring eight
  man-hours of Astronomy work. Completion provides enough
  data on the planet’s approximate size, mass, temperature, and
  atmosphere to tentatively assign to it one of the world-type cat-
  egories listed in GURPS Space (p. 77), such as Standard
  (Garden) or Small (Hadean). However, at interstellar ranges a
  classification is never certain. For example, a recent comet
  strike could elevate methane or water vapor levels on a world,
  giving a “false positive” biosignature.
  Interstellar Signal Detection
  Another task that can be undertaken at interstellar range is
  seeking out radio or other signals produced by a technological
  civilization. As a general rule, a people at TL7 or higher pro-
  duce emissions detectable at this distance, although the GM
  may decide for whatever reason that a civilization isn’t emit-
  ting anything. (Maybe they don’t have mass media, or commu-
  nicate with something other than electromagnetic radiation, or
  live underwater and the signals can’t penetrate through to the
  surface . . .) TL6 civilizations may broadcast signals, but these
  are too faint to distinguish from noise at interstellar ranges. On
  the other hand, it’s also possible powerful signals might be
  emitted by exotic alien animals or races (e.g., space-dwelling
  plasma entities) that naturally use radio for communication.
  Signal detection is a long task that requires eight hours per
  attempt. Roll against Electronics Operation (Sensors) or
  Electronics Operation (Communications).
  Modifiers: Add the comm/sensor array’s level. If using a
  basic, enhanced, or tactical array, apply Tech-Level Modifiers
  (p. B168); these systems are optimized for detecting the signa-
  tures common to their own TL, not for outside-the-box solu-
  tions. Apply range modifiers from the Size and Speed/Range
  Table, but read “yards” as “parsecs,” e.g., no penalty up to two
  parsecs, -1 at three parsecs, etc. Apply a population modifier.
  There’s no modifier if the world’s population is one billion; each
  order of magnitude increase adds +3; each order of magnitude
  decrease is -3. Add twice the spaceport class (see GURPS
  Space, p. 97, or GURPS Spaceships 2: Traders, Liners and
  Transports, p. 24); a system with a busy spaceport has more
  messages transmitted into deep space. (If the target deliberately
  beams messages across interstellar distances in the direction of
  the observers, add +10 or more.)
  There is no modifier for TL: Ultra-tech civilizations produce
  more (and more powerful) emissions, but their signals are
  more efficient and thus harder to detect.
  If the task is successful the observer detects any population
  that engages in extensive radio and/or radar emissions. This is
  most TL7+ civilizations with populations over a million in
  which broadcast radio or TV are in active use. It also includes
  less-populous groups with extensive industrialization (robot
  factories, etc.), deliberate space broadcasting (sending mes-
  sages between off-world ships, satellites, or colonies), or a pref-
  erence for radio communication. Remember radio or other
  electromagnetic signals travel at light speed, so observers pick
  up signals emitted years ago (3.26 years/parsec) rather than
  what is currently beamed out.
  The exact signals detected are the strongest radio or other
  electromagnetic signals emitted by the star system that would
  have reached the observer at his current position during the
  time spent listening. Much of it may be garbled noise, but if
  there’s mass media (or the equivalent), success should glean a
  number of hours of language samples equal to 10-60% of the
  time spent listening (see Linguistic Assessment, pp. 35-36).
  Analysis of the content requires linguistic assessment.
  IN-SYSTEM SURVEY TASKS
  These tasks should be performed after a survey spacecraft
  arrives in a star system.
  Scientific Instrument Survey
  Sensor arrays provide a variety of readings such as spectro-
  scopic data, energy emissions, etc. Scientists analyze the data
  they provide using Chemistry, Geography (Physical), Geology,
  Physics, and Meteorology skills. Passive sensors are supple-
  mented by active sensors if a ship is within range (see GURPS
  Spaceships, p. 45), although vessels forgo active sensors if they
  are trying to avoid detection.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  32
  Still too distant for visual
  analysis, but the spectrographic
  analysis looks promising.
  – Sandra Benes, 
  Space: 1999 #1.24
  
  Each analysis made using a particular skill is a task unto
  itself taking four hours. Roll vs. the appropriate skill or
  Electronics Operation (Scientific), whichever is less. For
  Geology, Geography, and Meteorology, use planet-type special-
  ization (GURPS Basic Set, p. 180).
  Analysis can be performed in real time as data comes in, or
  later. Apply time modifiers based on both the duration of the
  observation and the length of time spent during the analysis.
  Coming closer to the target as the scan is ongoing changes the
  range, so modifiers for range are based on the average
  distance throughout the observation.
  Modifiers: Long-Distance Modifiers (p. B241),
  e.g., -6 at 100 miles, -7 at 300 miles, -8 at 1,000
  miles, -9 at 3,000 miles, -10 at 10,000 miles, -11 at
  30,000 miles, -12 at 100,000 miles, etc. Add
  comm/sensor array level; add +4 with a science or
  multipurpose array. Add +2 if using active sensors, or
  +4 if this is a superscience multiscanner array.
  The information provided by each task depends on
  the skill:
  Chemistry: The atmospheric pressure and compo-
  sition (GURPS Space, pp. 80-81), with the exception
  of any organic toxins.
  Geography (Physical): The diameter, mass, density,
  surface gravity, hydrographic coverage, and climate
  (see GURPS Space, p. 77). This confirms any earlier
  discovery of world type. It also provides details of envi-
  ronment types (pp. B223-224 and GURPS Space, p. 142) within
  the limits of the resolution of any map that was made.
  Geology: The levels of tectonic activity and volcanism, and a
  rough guide to the age of the world. This is a necessary prereq-
  uisite for any planetary geological surveys (see below).
  Meteorology: The types of weather found on the planet.
  Success is also a necessary condition for any attempt by a non-
  native at weather forecasting on the world.
  Physics: Details of the planetary magnetic field and radia-
  tion belts (if any). At TL9+, study of neutrino and gamma-ray
  emissions reveals sources of high energy such as power reac-
  tors using nuclear fusion (via strong neutrino emissions) or
  antimatter (via distinctly polarized gamma-rays and large
  numbers of anti-neutrinos).
  Completion of all these tasks calculates a preliminary hab-
  itability score (see GURPS Space, p. 88). Any failure means the
  analysis has not been completed. Further attempts are possible
  with extra time; a critical failure means incorrect conclusions
  are drawn.
  Direct Planetary Imaging
  In addition to the scientific data detailed above, a space-
  craft’s sensors can provide multispectral images of the
  planet. Processing and manipulation at a variety of wave-
  lengths and exposure times can improve resolution and cre-
  ate planetary maps.
  Rather than rolling to detect any of countless features at dif-
  ferent ranges, it’s easiest to just determine the smallest object
  to be resolved at a given range. Find the Range modifier to the
  world, and take its absolute value (e.g., 66 for a -66 range mod-
  ifier). Subtract (27 + array level). This is the largest SM feature
  that shows up in images.
  Example: A spaceship with array level 9 is observing planet
  Rukia at a range of one million miles (a -54 range modifier).
  Features on Rukia no smaller than 54 - (27 + 9) = SM +18, or
  1 mile can be resolved. This reveals the alien cities dotted on
  the world’s surface (and the surprising lack of roads connect-
  ing them), but not the flying dragon-like aliens flitting about
  their towers. It may, however, show the mile-long jet contrails
  through the atmosphere produced by the planet’s extensive
  aerospace traffic.
  As resolution improves, further analysis is possible. The
  base time required for preliminary analysis is one planetary
  day (or eight hours, whichever is more); to make a complete,
  detailed map, ships orbit and map the planet over several days;
  this provides extra time bonuses. Add +3 if the spacecraft used
  active sensors (see GURPS Spaceships, p. 45, for active sensor
  ranges). Generally, a minimum spatial resolution of SM +5 (15
  yards) or smaller is required for useful data.
  A successful Cartography skill roll produces an accurate
  map at the above resolution. Failure means it has enough
  errors to cause problems for its users (apply a penalty to
  Navigation rolls equal to margin of failure). Critical failure
  means the adventure is impacted (e.g., a landing spot noted as
  flat terrain is actually a treacherous swamp). The GM may
  wish to roll secretly.
  Use Biology skill (with world-type specializations) to make
  informed speculation on life-forms (such as areas of vegeta-
  tion) large enough to be visible. It won’t reveal anything
  directly about things too small to spot, but a scientist could
  draw broad conclusions about the number and type of smaller
  organisms required to support those larger creatures or areas
  of vegetation that are visible to the sensors.
  Use Geography (Political) skill to estimate the existence
  and extent of any civilization based on visible features. For
  example, if a civilization has cultivated fields, long straight
  roads, sprawling cities, etc., these are noticed at a resolution
  of a couple of miles (SM +18). On the other hand, a small
  cluster of tents for a group of hunter-gatherers requires a res-
  olution of SM +2. A resolution of SM +5 or less (capable of
  distinguishing individual buildings, campfires, herds, etc.)
  allows a roll to identify population and TL to within an order
  of magnitude (this is the Population Rating, or PR; see
  GURPS Space, p. 91).
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  33
  
  PLANETARY EXPLORATION
  Every new planet is the product of billions of years of iso-
  lated evolution, full of traits unique to itself. Real understand-
  ing of any world requires explorers (or their robots) to go down
  to the surface and get their hands dirty.
  GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
  A detailed terrain map from active sensors gives some infor-
  mation about subsurface geological formations and tentative
  knowledge of the world’s geologic activity (see GURPS Space,
  pp. 119-121), but a complete picture requires on-site inspec-
  tion. At a minimum, a number of geological surveys equal to
  the diameter of the planet in thousands of miles at different
  types of terrain are required.
  Each such survey requires 40 man-hours each of Geology
  and Electronics Operation (Scientific) work and the use of spe-
  cialized equipment to obtain rock or ice-core samples, seismic
  readings, and measuring key geologic features. Portable labo-
  ratories (see GURPS Ultra-Tech, pp. 66-67) are carried as
  cargo for this purpose.
  Modifiers: -2 if no active sensors were used in mapping;
  equipment modifiers.
  The collected samples are returned to the survey vessel. At
  the GM’s discretion, these may be treated as “on-site”
  resources for Prospecting; provide evidence of exotic
  transuranic elements; have fossils or embedded organisms
  (requiring use of Paleontology skill to analyze them); or pos-
  sess other properties of interest.
  Analysis
  A Geology skill task (taking 40 hours of work) provides a
  preliminary assessment of planetary resources.
  Modifiers: Apply modifiers from the spacecraft’s geology
  lab facilities.
  This gives a precise estimate of the age of the planet, and
  identifies any special features about its overall composition.
  On planets without life-forms, this should be sufficient to
  determine the Resource Value Modifier (see GURPS Space,
  p. 87). Determining the exact mineral wealth of the planet
  (and what constitutes “valuable” varies by TL and setting)
  and locations for commercial extraction takes months or
  years of additional work, but the analysis provides enough
  data within an order of magnitude for decision makers to
  judge whether to proceed with prospecting and exploitation.
  Chemistry might be necessary to identify trace elements or
  the structure of unusual compounds.
  BIOLOGICAL SURVEY
  A vessel’s integral equipment supports one simultaneous
  survey per biology or Science! lab aboard. On a garden world
  with abundant native plant and animal life, it is impossible to
  do more than the most rudimentary research into the planet’s
  ecology (for that, see below).
  During the biological survey, the explorer collects soil, air,
  and water samples, deploys unattended sensors, recovers seeds
  and insect equivalents, and traps animal life for later analysis.
  Small animals can be easily captured for intensive study; large
  creatures are usually better anaesthetized or killed, then autop-
  sied, to enable gross anatomic studies. Tissue samples, ova,
  and sperm are collected for gene sequencing and possible cre-
  ation of research specimens using growth tanks (p. 23).
  If available, robots disguised with biomorphic coverings that
  were grown on-site, or captured animals implanted with neural
  interfaces, deploy surveillance devices and direct researchers to
  nests and food sources. Capturing or monitoring animal speci-
  mens can play out as a series of mini-adventures so long as the
  players and GM are comfortable with the details.
  A preliminary biological survey requires at least as many
  study sites as there are distinct environments on the world,
  although settling for a few representative locations is common.
  The survey requires at least 60 man-hours of Biology work per
  environment studied. Specialties may be required (Botany to
  study plant samples, Zoology for captured animals, Biochem-
  istry or Microbiology for bacteria and soil samples, and so on).
  On worlds with extensive seas or oceans, GMs may split biolog-
  ical survey work into separate land and ocean surveys, treating
  each distinctly. Ocean surveys require that the team has equip-
  ment for underwater operations, e.g., submarines (manned or
  robotic), diving gear, etc.
  Modifiers: Equipment quality.
  Completion of the survey
  recovers a representative collec-
  tion of biological organisms and
  environmental samples (such as
  soil samples).
  Analysis
  Analysis is a long task that
  requires 20 hours of Biology work
  for each survey to catalogue and
  assay the samples collected. Use the
  appropriate planet-type specialty
  (p. B180).
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  34
  Surveys on Non-Garden Worlds
  The survey rules detailed above mostly apply to garden worlds where there is a wide
  variety of obvious life. On other worlds, it may be uncertain whether life even exists at
  all! Life-forms may be limited to microorganisms, be found only in a limited number
  of environments, or simply be too alien for easy identification. If so, the primary goal
  of a biological survey is to determine whether there is any life. The GM may impose
  penalties or extend the time required based on how hard the life-forms are to find or
  analyze. If it is confined to certain environments or regions of the planet, the expedi-
  tion must search the right spot. For instance, the only life on a world might be located
  in thermal vents at the bottom of a subsurface ocean beneath 50 miles of ice. A survey
  performed at the surface would reveal no life; the explorers would only succeed if they
  breached the ice and sampled the deep ocean environment.
  
  Modifiers: Apply modifiers from the spacecraft’s biology lab
  facilities.
  Once analysis is complete, the biological survey yields
  enough information to get a broad picture of a world’s natural
  history. Major plant and animal orders are understood and the
  prevalent large species are identified. The researchers discover,
  at least in outline, the biochemical basis of life on the planet
  (see GURPS Space, p. 140) and, at late TL9+, have sequenced
  the genome of several animals and plant species. (At a lower
  TL, analysis of a genome may take months or years.)
  Successful study can also answer basic questions for colonists
  and castaways, such as:
  • Is the environment inherently hazardous (will it eat or
  poison us)?
  • Is the environment benign (can we eat them)?
  • Is the environment sustainable (do we have to take vita-
  mins, or can we just live off the land)?
  Bioengineering skill is invaluable in interpreting the genetic
  data. If live samples were collected, Animal Handling and
  Biology (Entomology) may be required to wrangle the critters
  in the lab.
  ECOLOGICAL SURVEY
  To gain a real understanding of how local ecosystems work,
  a full ecological survey is necessary. This is a series of long
  tasks that takes at least 3d years to complete. The surveyors
  must painstakingly identify local species down to the smallest
  animal and plant forms. Further, the team must observe how
  they interact over several local years to make sure any seasonal
  changes are noticed and understood. The survey involves many
  rolls against various Biology specialties.
  Ideally this should be done in advance of any colonization
  effort, but greed or politics may result in it being delayed until
  after an outpost or even a full-scale colony is established,
  sometimes with dangerous or tragic consequences.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  35
  FIRST CONTACT
  If explorers have determined intelligent life is present, the
  question of contact arises. Many starfaring cultures establish
  contact protocols, sometimes with the force of law behind them.
  Unofficial expeditions develop their own ad-hoc procedures.
  Careful explorers avoid going in to contact a new society
  “cold”; if possible they secretly observe the natives for weeks,
  perhaps even months or years, from hiding. Of course, a covert
  exploration may only be possible if the natives have inferior
  technology; many space drives have obvious signatures. And
  sometimes contact is made via radio or other means well
  before any exploration ship arrives.
  In space opera genres, “careful” and “first contact” rarely go
  together. Boring processes like initial linguistic and sociologi-
  cal assessments are omitted or left for later, or handled by
  ultra-tech instantaneous translators, and the crew jumps right
  into either a covert or overt contact situation. (This may
  explain why there are so many hostile aliens and interstellar
  wars in such settings!)
  LINGUISTIC ASSESSMENT
  The most important pre-contact task is a study of the major
  local language. If the native society is at a low level of develop-
  ment (TL0-5), samples of the language must be gathered via
  direct monitoring of conversations. This means placing audio
  bugs (or just hiding “open mike” communicators) and/or infil-
  trating stealthy reconnaissance robots (or microbots) into
  inhabited areas.
  Deploying surveillance systems can be an adventure in itself,
  with a risk of sudden and inadvertent “overt contact” if the team
  fails to preserve secrecy. The mission may be trivial if the char-
  acters have very advanced technology, such as swarms of tiny
  microbots or chameleon invisibility suits (see GURPS Ultra-
  Tech). Alternatively, the activities may require Electronics
  Operations (Surveillance), Stealth, and Camouflage rolls. Robot
  spies and hidden bugs are normally almost impossible for a
  low-tech society to detect. How many hours of useful samples
  are gathered is up to the GM. Depending on the technology
  used and the area spied on (assuming they found a settlement
  to monitor), each bug may get as many as 1d-2 hours of sam-
  ples (minimum 0) every eight hours of monitoring.
  If the natives have electromagnetic communications,
  remote linguistic assessment should be possible from any-
  where in the star system, and perhaps from interstellar dis-
  tances (see Interstellar Signal Detection, p. 32). Where
  societies use modulated electromagnetic signals, radio and/or
  television communications can be monitored. Some species
  may use communications that require special effort to tap
  into, e.g., an aquatic race using sonar signals, which would
  require deploying underwater listening devices. The GM has
  to resolve such exceptions. Sometimes the first challenge is to
  figure out how a race communicates: Chemical pheromones,
  telepathy, etc., may impose major challenges!
  Radio monitoring can be done from space without risk of
  detection. Use Electronics Operation (Communications) to tap
  into local radio nets using the vessel’s communication systems;
  see the rules in GURPS Spaceships (p. 45) for typical comm
  ranges. But at high tech levels signals may become difficult to
  interpret. As analog gives way to digital (normally at late TL7),
  the eavesdropper must first break the local protocols that
  encode voice, video, or text data. This is a long task requiring
  eight hours per attempt and several hours worth of samples. 
  I’ve been listening to the distress
  signal, and I, um, think I made a
  mistake in the translation.
  – D.J., Event Horizon
  
  Use Cryptography skill; apply a -10 penalty; add the
  Complexity of the spacecraft’s computers; and add -2 for every
  native TL above 8. Ship communicators gather one hour of
  useful samples for every two hours spent monitoring.
  The GM determines how many hours are needed before a
  working model of the language is derived. If the local lan-
  guage is descended from a known language (as for a lost
  colony of some kind) then completion of a long task using
  Linguistics skill, taking eight hours per attempt, may be
  enough to “break” the new dialect. If the tongue is completely
  unknown, at least (2d+8) ¥ 10 hours of samples are needed,
  more if the language has bizarre syntax or is communicated
  in an unusual manner – which is likely the case if it belongs
  to a hitherto unknown alien species. In any case, Linguistics
  rolls are needed to analyze the samples properly and to cre-
  ate a database for the new language, which is a long task tak-
  ing at least 200 hours. At this point, the database is still
  incomplete and does not permit anyone to learn the language
  at better than a Broken comprehension level. At TL11+,
  highly advanced translation programs may allow “real-time”
  cracking of languages, greatly speeding this process – see
  GURPS Ultra-Tech (p. 48).
  SOCIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
  Once a local language is decoded, explorers may use its con-
  cepts and their earlier planetary observations to estimate local
  cultural, social, and political parameters. Again, this is based
  on information gathered remotely through covert observation,
  robotic reconnaissance, and/or radio monitoring. However,
  even if a language is understood, it takes considerably more
  work to gain insight into the local culture.
  The rules below assume at least 200 hours of language sam-
  ples have been gathered and are backed up by actual observa-
  tion of the world. If less is available when the explorers try to
  make a sociological assessment, apply at a -1 penalty to each
  skill roll for every 10 full hours of deficit. Extra samples give a
  +1 bonus for every 100 hours of surplus. Video samples count
  double if they show natives interacting socially. Rolls are per
  day of observation for gauging TL or population, or per week
  of observation for political structure or institutions. These rolls
  shouldn’t be considered a structured set of tasks; rather, they
  represent a gradual accumulation of insights.
  Technology Level: The easiest parameter to assess from a dis-
  tance is the level of technological development. The overall TL
  of a society should be obvious by the time the initial language
  database is complete, without need for skill rolls.
  Population: The native population is also fairly easy to esti-
  mate by this time. Roll against Geography (Political) to get a
  better estimate of the world’s native population than earlier
  imagery-based studies (within 25%), and again to estimate the
  population of any specific area.
  Political Structure: A contact team can uncover the
  world’s dominant government types. Intercepted communi-
  cations give some idea who makes decisions and how politi-
  cal power is implemented. Roll against Sociology to make
  this determination.
  Specific Political Institutions: The
  details of local politics and customs are
  rarely as obvious as the overall structure.
  Roll against Anthropology to make a
  rough remote assessment of local politi-
  cal bodies and laws (including approxi-
  mate average CR). Unless the world is
  culturally homogenous, this only gives
  insight into one or two majority cultures.
  Economics: Roll against Economics
  to assign a Trade Classification (see
  GURPS Spaceship 2: Traders, Liners,
  and Transports, p. 36).
  Instead of resolving the sociological
  assessment purely with skill rolls, the
  GM may play out the process of obser-
  vation and deduction in greater detail.
  In this case the GM should provide clues
  to social parameters by describing the
  exploration team’s observations, per-
  haps even before the language database
  is built.
  For example, rather than calling for
  an Anthropology skill roll and telling suc-
  cessful players “this lost Earth colony’s
  dominant society is a highly regimented
  socialist dictatorship,” the GM can describe
  scenes of cities filled with large, monumental arenas and gray
  housing blocks; the scarcity of personal vehicles; the long
  queues outside many buildings; and everyone’s drab clothes or
  uniforms. Of course, some of the explorers’ observations can
  be misleading . . .
  This treatment gives the players more latitude to direct the
  investigation, perhaps using other skills to ferret out bits of evi-
  dence. Once they’ve drawn and stated their characters’ conclu-
  sions the GM can make skill rolls, granting bonuses if the
  players were perceptive or penalties if they were not, and pro-
  vide PCs with further data based on their success or failure. 
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  36
  They Know We’re Coming
  The orderly step-by-step processes of “linguistic assessment – sociological
  assessment – covert contact – overt contact” work when an exploration ship is
  observing a pre-spacefaring culture, or has access to low-signature super-
  science drives or cloaking device technologies.
  However, many realistic space drives such as fusion and antimatter
  drives are sufficiently “bright” that most populated high-tech worlds can
  spot the drive flare of a decelerating sublight starship weeks, or even months
  or years, in advance.
  In such circumstances, the decision making in any “first contact” situation
  is bilateral. Both sides make choices starting with “linguistic assessment” (the
  locals work to crack whatever messages the starfarers beamed toward them,
  and vice versa), then proceed straight into an “overt contact” situation.
  The natives may have days or even months (depending on the incoming
  ship’s sensor and drive performance) to come up with a response (or several
  responses, if they lack a single government). They can select ambassadors, pre-
  pare (quarantined) quarters for visitors, and, if divided into factions, quarrel or
  fight over who represents them. If they have the capability, they may choose to
  meet their visitors in space, for self-defense or to impress them. And if they
  have anything they feel the urge to hide (war fleets, the presence of dissenting
  factions or recent conflict, etc.) they may also have time to prepare deceptions!
  
  If the investigators aren’t experts themselves but command a
  large expedition, the GM may have various NPC scientists pres-
  ent their interpretations, including recommendations on
  whether it’s safe to make further contact. The GM can roll
  against the advisors’ skills, modified by the observations of those
  NPCs directing them. This gets interesting if the GM decides dif-
  ferent experts have their own agendas, interpretations, and
  requests (“Let’s move the ship closer” or “We really have to get
  bugs into that temple complex”); the survey team has to decide
  if a culture is ready for contact, or is potentially hostile. It’s then
  up to the PCs in command to decide whose advice to take . . . do
  they order further covert or remote studies, choose to proceed
  with overt contact, or even terminate the mission?
  COVERT CONTACT
  Once the linguistic and sociological assess-
  ments are finished, the leaders of an exploration
  team may authorize a covert contact mission.
  This is not intended to open communications,
  but rather to gather more information without
  revealing themselves to the natives.
  Some first-contact protocols prohibit covert
  contact, either on ethical grounds (“We have
  nothing to hide”) or because the risk an acciden-
  tal discovery of the undercover team may lead to
  an uncontrolled “overt contact” situation. Not
  only might this result in the loss of the team
  (e.g., they’re mistaken for local spies, foreign
  intruders, monsters, evil spirits, etc.), but it
  could trigger larger-scale hostilities. In fact, if
  the native society is of equal or greater TL to the
  contact team, a covert operation is sufficiently risky that the
  practical choice is open contact or no contact at all. An excep-
  tion is covert contact with a far-flung cosmopolitan interstellar
  society that encompasses numerous alien or bio-engineered
  races – if so, covert contact is fairly easy, since visitors from dis-
  tant parts of the polity are common. If you can meet 40 alien
  races in a spaceport cantina, a 41st race showing up might not
  make much of an impression!
  The whole concept of covert contact implies the capability
  of explorers to be secretive when they move among the natives.
  If they’re different, physically or mentally, covert contact may
  only be possible with extreme measures. Possibilities include
  surgery or nanotechnology to physically transform the team
  into duplicates of the inhabitants; the creation of robotic or
  biological android bodies that match native physiology; the
  replacement of locals with such duplicates; the capture of
  natives and implantation of “puppet” implants to possess
  native bodies; and the use of psionics to infiltrate the society.
  Biohazard and biocompatibility issues must also be consid-
  ered and dealt with. Based on earlier biological surveys, a cau-
  tious team ensures they neither contract diseases from the
  natives nor spread pathogens among them. Realistically native
  microbes are unlikely to infect a truly alien species; toxic or
  allergic reactions from native life-forms are possible, as are
  attacks by any alien equivalent of mold that considers humans
  (or their equipment) just another source of edible hydrocar-
  bons. A contact team may trust advanced symbiotic nanoma-
  chines or pan-immunity drugs to police their bodies. Even so,
  the best way to be safe is simply avoid direct contact and clean
  exposed surfaces with conventional toxic cleansers (iodine,
  hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, etc.). It’s difficult to be stealthy if
  wearing a full-body environment suit, but there may be ultra-
  tech alternatives like advanced skin-tight suits and transparent
  masks, sterile robots, and so on. Of course, if a suit or vehicle
  suffers penetrating damage due to accident or combat, expo-
  sure may be unavoidable.
  Any covert team planning to remain on a world for long-
  term observation also needs some way to sustain itself (and
  power equipment). For example, can they consume food and
  water, or must they bring in supplies? This may require pack-
  ing sufficient provisions, vitamin supplements, and power cells
  for the duration of the mission, and/or insuring proper protec-
  tion against local microbiological hazards in food and water.
  If, despite these risks, covert contact is attempted, the team
  must be as familiar as possible with the native language and
  customs. If they successfully performed the Linguistic and
  Sociological Assessment steps, they may have enough data to
  speak a native language at a Broken level, but their under-
  standing of local culture is too incomplete to permit any level
  of Cultural Familiarity. The team should also make (or steal)
  clothing and personal equipment designed to fit with local
  styles. Money is a problem, especially if the local technology
  produces elaborate currency that is hard to counterfeit without
  close examination. Instead a team may opt to carry compact
  valuables such as precious metals or gemstones, or, if their pro-
  tocols permit, a carefully chosen selection of trade items.
  Explorers may be able to get away with carrying gear or
  weapons more advanced than the local TL, but the items
  should be disguised, implanted, or easily concealed (Holdout
  skill is useful).
  They should arrive in an inhabited area in a frontier or rural
  region that allows for an unobserved landing. Stealth space-
  craft (or drop capsules or teleport projectors) may be used; the
  expedition might even be equipped with landing craft designed
  for that purpose. If slipping past local sensor nets, see the
  Detection rules in GURPS Spaceships (pp. 44-45). Once the
  team lands, it should make its way into contact with the local
  population. The team may pretend to be native foreigners vis-
  iting from a different region, although this can add its own
  complications if the inhabitants tend to distrust foreigners!
  Otherwise the characters may simply avoid attracting attention
  and set up a secure base in a location that lets them observe the
  locals and gather samples of artifacts.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  37
  
  Any covert contact mission should be played out as an
  adventure. Its goal is to gather detailed information about
  local languages, culture, political structures, society, biology,
  laws, and customs. Some covert teams have additional agen-
  das, e.g., acquisition of military intelligence to make a threat
  assessment or to prepare for future conquest, or gathering
  economic information in advance of opening trade. They may
  also attempt to obtain samples for local identity documents,
  currency, personal equipment, clothing, vehicles, animals,
  and so on to support further operations. They may be
  assigned to gather recordings of local gatherings, political
  meetings, stories, or dramatic presentations, as well as col-
  lecting scrolls, books, newspapers, downloads from computer
  networks – anything that improves the expedition’s grasp of
  language and culture. Naturally this means interacting with
  the local population or resorting to stealth and theft of arti-
  facts (which in some circumstances may be the only practical
  option!); finding open-minded locals with whom to make
  overt contact; or even kidnapping “specimens.” When the
  team interacts with residents, GMs should remember to
  apply all usual penalties to social skills for lack of language or
  Cultural Familiarity.
  Depending on the team’s goals it may take one or several
  missions of varying duration before they decide to conclude
  the covert stage of a contact operation. In some cases, this
  phase may proceed for many years, especially if authorities
  decide overt meetings are dangerous to either party. Successful
  covert contact missions enable the exploration team to
  improve their language database (or simply get more practice)
  so members can buy up to an Accented language comprehen-
  sion level. Cultural Familiarity may also be purchased.
  OVERT CONTACT
  Once covert contact is finished, or if the step was skipped
  entirely, the exploration team moves to open, overt contact.
  Some societies have “non-interference” doctrines or laws pro-
  hibiting space explorers from legally making open contact with
  low-technology societies not “ready” for contact, and others
  are nervous about providing potential rivals with knowledge of
  their existence.
  Overt contact may follow various procedures, but all of
  these approaches boil down to using Influence skills in the
  hope of obtaining a favorable reaction; again, be sure to apply
  modifiers for language comprehension and lack of Cultural
  Familiarity.
  For peaceful contact with TL7+ societies, the simplest form
  of overt contact is to transmit radio or other communications
  in the local language(s), with the content of the message based
  on any study of the local culture and its institutions. Such a
  message may be open (“This is the Galactic Federation starship
  Unity, transmitting on all frequencies: Greetings, Hives of
  Xaxnor, we come in peace and seek permission to cross-polli-
  nate with your world-minds”).
  However, if investigation has determined an open message
  may destabilize native institutions, the starfarers might instead
  covertly deliver their message to local authorities or other
  selected groups, leaving them to decide whether to best break
  the news of first contact to their people . . . or to keep it secret.
  The latter amounts to a de facto alliance between the visitors
  and one or more native factions, often involving the exchange
  of advanced off-world technology for the right to study and/or
  exploit the populace or resources and potentially leading to
  various covert operations.
  If the visitors intend a peaceful takeover or assimilation,
  they might instead dramatically overawe the natives with
  advanced technology – the “flying saucers on the White House
  lawn” scenario. There are risks, though: Depending on the soci-
  ety, an entire civilization might overreact, resulting in wide-
  spread panic and possible social collapse! Also, since surprised
  locals may attack, this approach works best if the visitor’s ves-
  sel is confident in its defenses! With primitive locals, another
  approach is to pretend to be gods or other supernatural enti-
  ties, which can be most effective if study allows the newcom-
  ers to employ motifs based on local beliefs. Not all contact
  teams care about local stability or perpetuating existing power
  structures. If conquest is planned, “overt contact” may be a
  surprise attack on any space forces, followed (in some cases)
  by orbital bombardment, troop landings, or both. In such
  cases, causing a panic is an objective rather than something to
  be avoided.
  Once local authorities or populations have dealt with the
  initial shock of contact (or have been defeated by an invasion),
  the overt contact team makes agreements to secure whatever
  they’re after. Some may be open about their goals; others may
  find it expedient to limit the information presented immedi-
  ately to the natives, for sociological, security, or economic rea-
  sons. For example, high-technology items may be
  demonstrated as a means of proving the team’s claims or extra-
  terrestrial origin, but how devices work is left to later technol-
  ogy-exchange agreements.
  First contact teams may avoid entangling themselves in
  existing social and political power struggles, at least until they
  have a good handle on what’s going on. But backing one fac-
  tion or organization (and perhaps even helping it take over the
  planet) is a useful strategy to secure influence, and may be a
  necessity if the team is the “front end” of an attempt to colo-
  nize, conquer, or assimilate the native society.
  Negotiations with newly contacted worlds require a delicate
  touch. A first contact team may simply secure an agreement
  for future talks at a governmental level, having no authority to
  make anything resembling a treaty. In that case, follow-up mis-
  sions are left to specialized organizations (a diplomatic corps,
  state department, etc.). Or they may attempt to gain agree-
  ments that give access to the local population (enough for in-
  depth linguistic or sociological surveys), an exchange of
  ambassadors, a semi-permanent outpost, or permission to set-
  tle part of the system.
  EXPEDITIONS AND OPERATIONS
  38
  Contacting new worlds
  always involves unexpected
  risks. 
  – Sub-Commander T’Pol,
  Enterprise #1.24
  
  Spacecraft may face danger aplenty before they even make
  planetfall! This chapter details natural hazards encountered
  while voyaging through space. These rules are applicable to
  any spacecraft – not just to colonization or exploration vessels.
  SPACE HAZARDS
  39
  CHAPTER THREE
  SPACE HAZARDS
  METEOROIDS AND SPACE JUNK
  A solar system contains countless meteoroids. These are
  drifting chunks of rocky debris ranging from sand grain to
  boulder size. Most are fragments formed from billions of years
  of accidental collisions between larger asteroids. Some faster-
  moving meteoroids are the residue from comets’ tails.
  Meteoroids in our solar system travel at 10-12 miles per sec-
  ond (the orbital velocity of the asteroid belt); “meteoroid storms”
  produced by passing comets reach 40-50 mps. Spacecraft are
  regularly struck by small meteoroids but the vast majority of
  these are sand-grain sized, too small to do more than pockmark
  a vessel’s hull. A greater risk is manmade debris. Most space
  junk, like paint flecks, is too tiny to worry about, but some pieces
  are large enough to cause damage and all travel at dangerously
  high orbital velocities. This is 5-6 mps in low Earth orbit, which
  means a possible closing velocity of 10 mps if the ship orbits in
  the other direction.
  The odds of impacting an object large enough to do cata-
  strophic damage are very low in deep space, but are increased
  in a debris-cluttered planetary orbit (such as modern-day
  Earth); while traveling the path of a comet; or when moving
  through the aftermath of a large space battle. Other conditions
  that put spacecraft in constant danger of hitting asteroids or
  meteoroids are cinematic; see GURPS Spaceships 4: Fighters,
  Carriers, and Mecha, pp. 35-36, for these types of debris fields.
  There’s no serious risk of collision in interstellar space unless
  the GM wants one for plot reasons. In interplanetary space, roll
  every year for a stray meteoroid hit. In debris-cluttered orbits,
  roll every six months. In hazardous environments, such as
  orbital space after a battle or in the vicinity of a comet’s tail,
  check at least once, then again each month, and more often if a
  cascade catastrophe (below) has occurred. Roll 3d; if it’s equal or
  less than the vessel’s SM/2 (rounded up) the spacecraft has a
  close encounter at some point when the crew least expects it.
  Time Scale: A meteoroid or debris chunk small enough to
  escape early notice, but fast enough to cause damage, is
  detected only at the last moment. Resolve the possible impact
  using 20-second turns when calculating rate of fire.
  Facing: Debris normally impacts the front hull. In complex
  situations (maneuvering in the wake of a comet, escaping from
  a debris-choked orbit), roll 1d: 1-3 = front hull, 4-5 = central
  hull, 6 = rear hull.
  Base Relative Velocity: Use 10 mps or the vessel’s actual
  velocity, whichever is greater. Multiply velocity by five in the
  case of “meteoroid storms” produced by high-velocity
  comets.
  Point Defense: The colliding spacecraft may attempt
  a Point Defense attack (see GURPS Spaceships, p. 59).
  Most debris is SM -10 and any hit destroys it.
  Dodging: The spacecraft may attempt to dodge the
  debris (if eligible to dodge).
  Impact: The incoming junk causes 1d damage per
  10 mps of velocity.
  INTERSTELLAR
  IMPACT HAZARDS
  Interstellar space (beyond a solar system’s halo of
  comets) is largely free of meteoroids, but contains stray
  atoms of hydrogen and helium as well as occasional
  dust grains. These are very tiny (some 100-200 nanome-
  ters across) and thinly spread (maybe 1,000 grains per
  cubic kilometer). Even so, that’s enough to be a hazard
  to a spacecraft moving at the velocities needed to cross
  interstellar space in a reasonable timeframe.
  Cascade Catastrophes
  Earth orbit currently contains thousands of fragments of
  launch vehicles, paint chips, inactive satellites, debris from space
  weapons tests, and other junk. The same is true of space around
  other inhabited planets if care was not taken to avoid such prob-
  lems, or in the aftermath of a major accident or battle. Orbital
  decay, the sheer vastness of space available even in “crowded”
  orbits, the tiny size of most debris, and “graveyard orbits” for
  satellite disposal mitigate any risk this trash poses under normal
  conditions. However, it is possible a war, terrorist act, or simple
  accident could result in an ablation cascade event, where space
  junk crashes into other satellites and space junk, producing a
  chain of additional collisions and debris and rendering orbital
  space hazardous to navigation. The aftermath of a catastrophe
  might require daily or hourly collision checks, and make leaving
  the atmosphere suicidal for unarmored space vehicles.
  
  Due to the sustained nature of this sort of damage, it’s not
  realistic to roll for hits and damage. Instead, a craft must
  have enough frontal armor (representing impact shielding)
  and/or force screen protection to provide necessary continu-
  ous protection.
  The table shows the ablation effects at various fractions of
  the speed of light (every 0.1c is 18,628 mps) in terms of lost
  frontal armor dDR. After frontal armor is utterly ablated, each
  point instead causes 3d of decade-scale damage to the front hull.
  Interstellar dust grains likely contain iron. If a ramscoop-
  equipped spacecraft moves at velocities high enough for the
  ramscoop to operate, the GM may rule it ignores these speed
  limits as the magnetic field deflects the iron. However, a ram-
  scoop-equipped ship won’t be able to use the field during the
  time it is accelerating from lower velocities since doing so
  would actually brake the spacecraft, so it still needs tough
  frontal armor to reach these velocities.
  Ablation Table
  Velocity
  Ablation
  0.1c
  1 per 50 years
  0.2c
  1 per six years
  0.3c
  1 per two years
  0.4c
  1 per eight months (1.5/year)
  0.5c
  1 per four months (3/year)
  0.6c
  1 per two months (6/year)
  0.7c
  1 per month
  0.8c
  2 per month
  0.9c
  3 per month
  SPACE HAZARDS
  40
  RADIATION HAZARDS
  Radiation (see pp. B435-436) is especially deadly in space
  because ships and stations are beyond the natural shield of a
  planet’s magnetic field and thick atmosphere. Spacecraft elec-
  tronics (such as computers) are hardened against high levels of
  radiation. However, the fragile biological occupants are vulner-
  able to numerous hazards. These include solar flares, cosmic
  background radiation, and the radiation belts of worlds with
  magnetic fields.
  COSMIC RAYS
  Galactic cosmic rays are charged particles (atomic nuclei,
  electrons, positrons, etc.) that originate beyond the solar sys-
  tem, traveling through space at near-light speeds. Their high
  energy is difficult to shield against; they smash through matter,
  leaving a train of ionized atoms that kill living cells.
  Unshielded individuals may notice these impacts as spo-
  radic bright flashes in their eyes, even in total darkness.
  Cosmic rays are a hazard anywhere outside a world’s magnetic
  field. They inflict 1 rad per week, and since they are highly pen-
  etrating all radiation PF is divided by 100. However, the expo-
  sure is halved if the vessel is in the shadow of a planet, moon,
  or other large body.
  The risk of cosmic rays within a solar system is affected by
  the fluctuation of a star’s magnetic field, which provides some
  shielding within the system. When the sun is especially active
  (e.g., for a few weeks after a flare – see below) exposure is less
  (halve the rads/week). At a great distance from the star (75+ AU
  away from a sun-sized star) and in interstellar space, exposure
  is greater (double the rads/week).
  SOLAR FLARES
  Solar flares are storms of high-energy protons emitted by
  stars. Different stars are more or less energetic; the notes below
  apply to our sun, a G2 main-sequence star.
  Our sun follows a rough 11-year cycle of flare activity, and
  during peak periods (the solar max) multiple flares may occur
  within the space of a few weeks. A typical flare lasts several
  hours. Since its particles travel below light speed, the light of
  the flare is seen before they hit; this provides about 10 minutes
  of warning per AU of distance from the active star.
  On average, small flares occur 1d times each year and
  deliver 50-150 rads; midsize flares every 2-5 years delivering
  200-1,200 rads; and major ones a few times every decade (at the
  solar max) delivering 2,000-6,000 rads. These dosage levels
  apply in space at a distance of 1 AU from the sun; divide by the
  square of the actual distance. Thus, occupants 0.5 AU from the
  sun during a small 100-rad flare might take 100/0.25 = 400 rads.
  Solar flares are relatively non-penetrating: multiply radia-
  tion PF by 20.
  PLANETARY
  RADIATION BELTS
  Earth (and other worlds with metallic cores, including gas
  giants like Jupiter) is surrounded by a pair of donut-shaped
  magnetic fields. Those charged particles produced by the solar
  wind, and cosmic rays that are not deflected, are stored and
  trapped there.
  Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is
  approximately 3,720 to 1.
  – C-3PO, Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back 
  
  Earth’s radiation belts are known as the Van Allen belts and
  are described below.
  The highest energies are found in the inner radiation belt. It
  extends 400 to 4,000 miles above the Earth at the equator.
  However, the belt is actually aligned with the magnetic axis of
  the Earth, which is tilted away from the axis of Earth’s rota-
  tion. As a result, while the belt starts 800-900 miles above the
  surface on one side of Earth, off the coast of Brazil is the
  “South Atlantic Anomaly” where radiation is especially intense
  at an altitude of only 150-200 miles. Spacecraft and stations
  are best positioned in orbits that minimize exposure to the
  inner radiation belt. Lengthy unprotected exposure can cause
  radiation sickness and damage electronic systems.
  The outer radiation belt is more tenuous and
  found at higher altitudes. It stretches from about
  15,000 to 23,000 miles above the equator, although it
  curves downward toward each pole. Its radiation is
  primarily lower-energy ions and electrons produced
  by the solar wind, and so it is less hazardous than the
  inner belt.
  On average, the exposure in the inner radiation
  belt is about 4 rads/day; the outer belt can be
  ignored, as even a spaceship’s “default” dDR 0 hull is
  protection enough against it.
  RADIATION PROTECTION
  The risk of radiation exposure is one reason to
  favor unmanned or robot-crewed vessels for long
  voyages, but various strategies can mitigate danger
  to living travelers.
  Radiation protection is measured by a Protection
  Factor (PF). Different radiation hazards are more or less pene-
  trating. Radiation from cosmic rays divides PF by 100, while
  solar flares and planetary radiation belts multiply the PF by 20:
  for more details, see Radiation Protection, p. B436.
  Manned spacecraft are assumed to be configured so the
  mass of the vessel serves as radiation shielding. That is, living
  quarters, control rooms, habitats, engine rooms, passenger
  seating, any system in a [core] location, and similar inhabited
  systems are all placed so they’re surrounded by unoccupied sys-
  tems, providing natural “mass-shielding.”
  To determine the PF shielding one of these systems, total
  the number of non-core systems in that hull section, excluding
  any Cargo, Habitat, Hangar Bay, or Open Space systems.
  Cross-index that number with the SM of the spacecraft on the
  Radiation Protection Table (below) to find PF.
  Characters may find themselves in non-mass-shielded sys-
  tems. To calculate radiation PF for occupants of such systems
  use the same procedure, but only count armor systems.
  Any occupants of a core system receive double the effec-
  tive PF.
  Example: An SM +9 starship’s central hull has one armor,
  one habitat, one cargo hold, and three fuel tank systems, plus
  a control room in its core. There are therefore four non-core
  systems (the armor and fuel tanks) that count for radiation
  protection, so the habitat’s occupants receive PF 300 and the
  control room PF 600 (since it’s in the core). If an occupant was
  not in the mass-shielded control room or habitat (e.g., visiting
  the cargo hold) only the one armor system would count, and so
  anyone exposed in the cargo hold would get only PF 70.
  MITIGATING
  RADIATION EFFECTS
  Even in a well-shielded ship some radiation gets through,
  especially cosmic rays (which divide PF by 100), and exposure
  builds up over time. This is a serious limitation on long manned
  space missions, but the threat is mitigated at higher TLs.
  Anti-radiation drugs provide some protection against expo-
  sure, and at TL10+, cell-repair nanotechnology is sufficiently
  advanced that spacefarers can just take a pill to protect against
  routine exposure (see p. B436).
  Genetic engineering may also create spacefaring parahuman
  or alien sub-races with advantages such as Radiation Tolerance
  (p. B79) or Regeneration (Heals Radiation) (p. B80). GURPS
  Bio-Tech provides several examples of all three approaches.
  SPACE HAZARDS
  41
  Radiation Protection Table
  System/SM
  +5
  +6
  +7
  +8
  +9
  +10
  +11
  +12
  +13
  +14
  +15
  0 systems
  7
  10
  15
  25
  40
  50
  75
  100
  150
  200
  300
  1 system
  15
  20
  30
  50
  70
  100
  150
  200
  300
  400
  600
  2 systems
  30
  40
  60
  100
  150
  200
  300
  400
  600
  800
  1,200
  3 systems
  45
  60
  90
  150
  200
  300
  450
  600
  900
  1,200
  1,800
  4 systems
  60
  80
  120
  200
  300
  400
  600
  800
  1,200
  1,600
  2,400
  5 systems
  75
  100
  150
  250
  350
  500
  750
  1,000
  1,500
  2,000
  3,000
  6 systems
  90
  120
  250
  300
  450
  600
  900
  1,200
  1,800
  4,000
  3,600
  
  Active, aggressive space-traveling vacuum-dwelling crea-
  tures capable of threatening a starship are not very plausible,
  but then again neither is faster-than-light travel . . . and they
  add interest to a space-opera setting.
  The most likely habitat for vacuum-dwellers is a system’s
  Kuiper Belt or Oort cloud (where water – as ice – and com-
  plex hydrocarbons are found among comets). Another possi-
  ble space environment is the (relatively) dense molecular
  clouds in nebulae, though the being could be a complex mag-
  netic field or energy pattern within a stellar atmosphere.
  Even more exotic environments are possible: Creatures could
  be natives of hyperspace.
  Space monsters may have a complex reproductive cycle in
  which some stages live on small bodies, planets, or stars while
  others migrate through space.
  Cryptobiology of Space: Myths and legends of a particular
  space monster may convince a patron to fund a bio-survey
  expedition into a distant deep-space location to prove its exis-
  tence. There may not be a real monster but the expedition itself
  still faces plenty of other challenges, especially if the creature’s
  rumored haunts are politically sensitive areas (located between
  warring powers), infested by pirates, etc.
  Here Be Dragons: Aggressive space monsters happen to
  infest a particular region of space – or perhaps live in hyper-
  space or near wormholes – and don’t like spaceships! (Maybe
  they think they’re rival beasts intruding on their territory, or
  they try to mate with them with catastrophic results.) Such
  periodic attacks might be a rare menace, or they could be a
  common “wandering encounter” that justifies arming civilian
  spaceships.
  Moby Dick: Space monsters may produce exotic and valu-
  able substances in their bodies. Maybe they’re living super-
  fusion reactors with magnetic monopoles, or they have organs
  that are the key to faster-than-light travel, or their bodies con-
  tain advanced organic superconductors. Hunting them is
  lucrative, but also potentially dangerous – the creatures them-
  selves are a threat, rival hunters (or game wardens) are pres-
  ent, or other great entities also prey upon them.
  Wild Horses: If you capture a space monster, maybe you can
  tame it and harness it to propel a spacecraft, ride on or in it, or
  enter symbiosis with it.
  The Creature That Ate Space Station Alpha: A space monster
  (or swarm of monsters) attacks a station or colony! The
  colonists have inadvertently upset the monster – perhaps they
  mined an asteroid or comet that was really one of its eggs or
  nests, or a megaproject (building a Dyson sphere) encroached
  on its territory. Maybe they just had the bad luck to settle a sys-
  tem in the path of a million-year migration cycle for a swarm
  of battleship-sized fusion-powered space locusts! Solving the
  problem involves a combination of exobiology (to find out
  more about the aliens’ strengths and weaknesses) and space
  warfare (to stop them).
  If space monsters don’t exist naturally, it may be possible to
  build them. GURPS Bio-Tech (p. 98) contains character cre-
  ation guidelines and examples of living bio-spaceships. These
  rules can be easily adapted to create natural space monsters.
  Vessels traveling through normal space have no problem
  navigating, but the peculiarities of stardrive technology may
  result in starships experiencing navigation errors: drive
  malfunctions that result in a faster-than-light voyage ending
  up many parsecs from where it’s supposed to be. Similar dif-
  ficulties occur when exploring a new jump point or worm-
  hole. The starship may have the power to get home again . . .
  but only if the navigator can find out where the ship is in the
  first place!
  The best way for a lost craft to find itself is by using pul-
  sars. These spinning neutron stars emit powerful and direc-
  tional beams of radio waves that sweep through space with
  the regularity of an atomic clock. Moreover, each pulsar
  emits radiation with a unique pulse period and shape. 
  The galaxy’s pulsar characteristics and locations are well
  known, and are the equivalent of lighthouse beacons for lost
  interstellar travelers. By tracking the exact time of arrival of
  pulses from a sample of pulsars, a vessel’s navigator can
  determine the position of the starship.
  Locating pulsars requires using a spacecraft’s comm/sensor
  array as a radio telescope. Roll against the lower of Astronomy
  and Navigation skill every eight hours, adding the ship’s array
  level; apply a penalty of -8 if using a basic or tactical array
  and -4 for a science or multipurpose array. Three successes
  means the vessel’s location is known. Using documented pul-
  sars for interstellar navigation is workable if one is still in the
  same galaxy or an adjacent satellite galaxy (e.g., one of the
  Magellanic Clouds).
  SPACE HAZARDS
  42
  SPACE MONSTERS
  LOST IN SPACE
  
  Ablation cascade events, 39.
  Ablation Table, 40.
  Adventure idea, 29.
  Alcatraz-class colonial transport, 25.
  Artemis-class lander, 13.
  Ascent Vehicles, 8, 13-14.
  Assessments, of cultures, 35-37; of planets,
  31-35.
  Astronomy skill, 32, 42.
  Better life as motivation, 30.
  Biological survey, 34-35.
  Biology skill, 33-35.
  Booster stage ships, 5-8.
  Cartography skill, 33.
  Cascade catastrophes, 39.
  Chariot-class nuclear booster, 7.
  Charon-class sleeper ship, 24-25.
  Chemistry skill, 32-34.
  Colonization missions, 30-31.
  Colony ships, 19-20.
  Columbia-class survey ship, 17.
  Comet-class deep space probe, 5.
  Commercial expeditions, 28-29.
  Constellation-class exploration starship, 9.
  Cosmic rays, 40.
  Covert contact, 37-38.
  Cryptography skill, 36.
  Darwin-class bio-survey starship, 16.
  Dirac-class exploration cruiser, 11-12.
  Direct planetary imaging, 33.
  Earth Return Vehicles (ERV), 7, 8, 13-14.
  Ecological survey, 35.
  Einstein-class exploration ramship, 11.
  Electronics Operation skill, 31-35.
  Enceladus-class exploration ship, 9.
  Endeavor-class generation ship, 21-22.
  Exodus-class colonial transport, 20.
  Expeditions, 28-29.
  Exploration landers, 13-15.
  Exploration ships, 6-13.
  First contact, 35.
  Forewarned cultures, 36.
  Freedom as motivation, 30.
  Generation ships, 21-22.
  Genesis-class colonial transport, 19-20.
  Geography skill, 32, 33, 36.
  Geological survey, 34.
  Geology skill, 32-34.
  Grissom-class exploration shuttle, 15.
  Growth tanks, 23.
  GURPS, Basic Set, 33; Bio-Tech, 23, 24,
  41, 42; Mars, 8; Space, 3, 11, 19, 30-
  35; Spaceships 2: Traders, Liners
  and Transports, 32; Spaceships 3:
  Warships and Space Pirates, 27;
  Spaceships 4: Fighters, Carriers, and
  Mecha, 39; Spaceships, 3-5, 7, 8, 32,
  33, 35, 37, 39; Ultra-Tech, 34-36.
  Heavy-lift booster, 6-8.
  Helldiver-class armored lander, 14.
  Icarus-class space probe, 4-5.
  Impact hazards, 39-40.
  Incremental colonization as motivation,
  30.
  Industrial parks as motivation, 31.
  In-system survey tasks, 32-33.
  Interstellar impact hazards, 39-40.
  Interstellar signal detection, 32.
  Involuntary exile as motivation, 30.
  Johnny Appleseed-class seedship, 23.
  Kilroy-class armored scout ship, 10.
  Komarov-class winged lander, 15.
  Labyrinth-class jump station, 27.
  Linguistic assessment, 35-36.
  Lost in space, 42.
  Lowell-class, ascent vehicle, 8, 14; lander,
  8, 13-14; planetary lander, 13-14.
  Magellan-class worldship, 22.
  Margrave-class outpost station, 26-27.
  Mars Direct plan, 8.
  Mars mission, 8, 13-14.
  Mayflower-class colonial transport, 19.
  Meteoroids, 39-40.
  Meteorology skill, 32, 33.
  Missionary expeditions, 29.
  Mitigating radiation effects, 41.
  Monsters in space, 42.
  Nanostasis, 24.
  Navigation skill, 42.
  New lands as motivation, 30.
  New resources as motivation, 30.
  Nova I: first booster stage, 6-8.
  Nova II: second booster stage, 7.
  Nova III: nuclear booster, 7.
  Nova-class rocket ship, 6-7.
  Odyssey-class exploration ship, 10.
  Orpheus-class interplanetary survey ship,
  16.
  Outposts, 26.
  Out-system survey tasks, 31-32.
  Overt contact, 38.
  Palomar-class exploration cruiser, 12-13.
  Phobos-class deep-space rocket, 7.
  Physics skill, 32, 33.
  Planetary, analysis, 32; exploration, 34-35;
  imaging, 33; radiation belts, 40-41.
  Polaris-class, booster stage, 5; multi-stage
  star probe, 5-6, star probe, 5-6.
  Political expeditions, 28.
  Political rivalry as motivation, 30.
  Population pressure as motivation, 30.
  Preserving the species as motivation, 31.
  Prison transports, 24-25.
  Prizes for missions, 29.
  Probes, 4-6, 27.
  Prometheus-class nuclear rocket ship, 8.
  Publication history, 3.
  Pulsars, locating, 42.
  Races, 29.
  Radiation hazards, 40-41; protection, 41.
  Refugees from disaster as motivation, 31.
  Relativistic travel, 11.
  Religious imperatives as motivation, 30.
  Remote survey procedures, 31-33.
  Research stations, 26.
  Roswell-class covert survey ship, 18.
  Running colonization campaigns, 30.
  Science vessels, 16-18.
  Scientific expeditions, 28.
  Scientific instrument survey, 32-33.
  Seedships, 23-24.
  Sensor drones, 27.
  Sensor probes, 27.
  Serengeti-class bio-survey ship, 17.
  Signal detection, 32.
  Small upper stages, 5.
  Sociological assessment, 36-37.
  Solar flares, 40.
  Space hazards, 39-42.
  Space junk, 39-40.
  Space monsters, 42.
  Star Hunter-class covert survey ship, 18.
  Star Seed-class factory probe, 24.
  Strategic expeditions, 28.
  Survey vessels, 16-18.
  Surveys, on garden worlds, 34-35; on non-
  garden worlds, 34; procedures, 31-33.
  Suspended animation, 24.
  System mapping, 31-32.
  Time dilation and travel, 11.
  Time spent on tasks, 31.
  Transfer orbits, 8.
  Universe-class generation ship, 21.
  Upper stages, 5.
  Van Allen belts, 41.
  Van Allen-class space lab, 26.
  INDEX
  43
  INDEX
  . . . journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly
  going where no man . . . where no one . . . has gone
  before.
  – Captain James Kirk, Star Trek VI: 
  The Undiscovered Country
  
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
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