Prospector Vessel
A J-class Prospector Vessel is a specialized vessel that surveys systems for valuable resources.
- Mining missions and vessels will typically follow a successful prospecting find.
- The Supraclass designation is also known as Ship Mission, Ship Mission Code, Mission, or Ship Hull Designation.
- It is a starship supraclass.
Library Data Referral Tree
Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information:
Starship:
- Advanced Ship Classifications
- Ship Mission Code / Supraclass
- Ship Type Code / Superclass
- Ship Class Code / Class
- Model (TL)
- Bloc (Lot)
- Basic Ship Classifications
- Adventure Class Ship (Auxiliary Class Ship)
- Battle Class Ship (Bulk / Subcapital Class Ship)
- Capital Ship (Capital Class Ship)
- Fleet Class Ship (Capital Class Ship)
- Size-Role Classification
- Subcapital Ship (Small & Large Battle Class Ships)
- QSP
- USP
- World Class Ship
- NAFAL (STL) - (Not As Fast As Light) / (Slower Than Light)
- Light Speed (c)
- FTL - (Faster Than Light) - "Superluminal"
-
- Light-second (ls)
- Light-minute (lm)
- Light-hour (lh)
- Light-day (ld)
- Light-week (lw)
- Light-year (ly)
- Parsec (pc)
Description (Specifications)
Prospector vessels are an important part of the economy as they do survey work, identify valuable resources, seek out accessible stockpiles, and later redirect significant mining and processing assets to the largest and most promising mineral and/or other valuable resources.
Strategy & Tactics (Doctrine)
Prospectors and seekers perform the following missions:
- Resource Prospecting
- Resource Recovery ("Mining")
- Resource Surveying
- Other specialized uses
They are noncombatants and are not intended to do anything other than run from hostiles.
Supraclass Roles
Prospectors AKA Seekers typically serve the following roles:
- Asteroid Miner (JB)
- Asteroid Prospector (JB)
- Belter Craft (JB)
- Belter Ship (JB)
- Mining Vessel (JM & GM)
- Prospector Vessel (J) (Namesake)
- Resource Hunter (JM)
- Resource Scout (JM)
- Seeker (J)
- Survey Scout (LU)
- Survey Ship (LU)
Supraclass Archetypal Roles
These vessels typically serve the following archetypal roles:
| J-class Prospector Vessel Supraclass Archetypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Archetype | Type Code | Exemplar | Remarks |
| Prospector Vessel AKA Seeker | J | Arzhent class Prospector/Surveyor | Prosecutors or Seekers have a straight forward job: Enter un-assayed star systems and investigate, looking for valuable resources worthy of bringing industrial mining vessels or even mining stations for later widespread, industrial extraction, and processing.
|
| Belter Craft | JB | Seeker class Asteroid Prospector | Belter craft perform many of the same missions as prospectors, but are specialized to search planetoid or asteroid belts, requiring less ship performance and cost, but also adding more risk. Belting is a highly dangerous vocation. Many belters use non-jump capable boats.
|
| Mining Vessel | JM | Udzuekh class Mining Vessel | Mining vessels follow prospectors and belters, doing extraction and processing at low to medium levels. Truly large resource quantities will attract industrial mining assets. Smaller yields can be handled by smaller, yet capable mining vessels.
|
| Survey Vessel | LU | Donosev class Survey Scout | Survey scouts and other science vessels often perform the first data assays of a system, which later attract an array of prospecting, seeking, and belter attention. The missions of survey vessels and prospecting vessels overlap.
|
| NOTES: There is semantic overlap between many of the classes and codes. Some codes organize by mission or capability, others by size and tonnage, and yet others by other characteristics. | |||
History & Background (Dossier)
While all Prospectors are Belters, not all Belters are Prospectors, as it is a Prospector who identifies suitable targets for later Asteroid Miners.
At minimum, a Propsector needs a way to get to their target asteroids, a way of assessing them and a way of recording their finds. These things are true whether the Prospector is a lone independant, or part of a Megacorporate survey team.
Generally, Prospectors operate small spaceships or starships, going from rock to rock. Sometimes, Prospectors are dropped off by their mothership, and then survey the rock operating out of temporary shelters on the asteroid itself, with the mothership returning once the survey is complete. This allows multiple teams of belters to operate out of one mothership, allowing gains in economy.
While more expensive, jump capable starships enable encounters with pirates to be avoided, making Prospecting a much safer operation. Many Prospectors use modified IISS Type S scouts, usually referred to as 'Seekers', as the IISS sensor package and robust life support and engineering systems are particularily suited to several month long survey expiditions.
Assessment is done by a combination of sensors, scientific instruments and samples for later analysis by better equipment. Part of the skill of a Prospector is knowing what to survey, where and for how long - an experienced Prospector knows when to look for veins of intrusive material, when to sample randomly in a homogenous body and when to abandon an unprofitable rock for another target.
Generally speaking, Prospectors simply record the location and orbit of their surveyed asteroids, as this will allow the target to be located at a future time. Sometimes, beacons are placed on particular rocks, but this is more commonly done to denote asteroids as the legal property of some entity. Some belters broadcast their results to base, but this is unusual in less secure Outsystems, as it may alert Pirates or claim jumpers to the presence of the Belter.
Imperial systems often require a Belter to lodge a temporary survey claim on the asteroids proposed to be surveyed. This claim is generally for 90 days, and then either has to be upgraded to a more expensive Exploitation Licence or abandoned.
Some Prospectors operate without ever entering their target system, by taking existing surveys and applying new techniques, or looking for now in-demand metals or compounds. Generally, once potentially profitable target is found, another Prospector is hired to resurvey the target asteroid and confirm the results. This technique extensively applied by Imperial Megacorporations, who in some systems have series of survey results stretching back hundreds of years.
Prospectors can also operate on planetary surfaces.
Typical Resource Exploitation Process
Typical Mining Sequence:
Selected Variant Types & Classes
Civilian Vessel - Seeker / Prospector - Imperial Space:
Ship Summary List
Some of the most commonly used vessels in this role or these roles include:
| 0 Representative Belter Craft (JB) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 0 Representative Mining Vessel (JM) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
| 0 Representative Survey Vessel (LU) Classes | |
|---|---|
| No results |
References & Contributors (Sources)
|
This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it. |
- This article is an amalgamation of many different materials published since 1977.
- Jim Cunningham. High Passage 4 (FASA, 1982), TBD.
- Martin Dougherty. Scout Ships (Avenger Enterprises, 2007), TBD.
- Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), TBD.
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science