Asp ScoutExploration

The Asp Scout lives in the shadow of one of exploration's most beloved ships, the Asp Explorer — and that's a shame, because on its own terms it's a tidy, affordable medium explorer. Lighter and cheaper than its famous sibling, it offers a decent ~54 LY engineered range, seven optional internals for a proper expedition kit, and a medium pad that lands at most stations.

It is, admittedly, the lesser Asp. Its FSD and internals are a step down from the Explorer's, so it jumps a little shorter and carries a little less, and the Explorer's superior range and famous canopy view make it the obvious choice for most. But the Scout costs markedly less, and for a budget commander who wants a medium-pad explorer with real kit at a low price, it's a quietly sensible pick that does the job without fuss.

Four things make the Asp Scout a sensible budget medium explorer:

• Light hull, decent range. At 150 tonnes it jumps ~54 LY engineered — respectable for a cheap medium.
• Tidy internals. Seven optionals carry a class-5 scoop, scanner, AFMU and SRV bay — a complete expedition kit.
• Medium-pad access. Lands at the vast majority of stations — more flexible resupply than a large explorer.
• Low price. Markedly cheaper than the Asp Explorer for similar core capability — the value middleweight.

A cheap, light 150 t medium-pad explorer with a full seven-optional kit and no rank gate, held to 70 by a modest ~54 LY range that even the small-pad DBE beats.

The 70/100 headline is a verdict against the exploration role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for exploration specifically. The role column is the maximum engineered jump range in light-years — the headline number for deep-space travel.

Same class — medium-pad explorers

Among medium explorers the Asp Scout is the budget option. Its own sibling the Asp Explorer beats it on range, room and that famous view for not much more, so the Scout makes most sense purely on price — a cheaper way into a capable medium-pad explorer.

Other classes — the alternatives

Curiously, the cheaper small-pad DBE out-ranges the Asp Scout and lands anywhere — so the Scout's main justification over a DBE is medium-pad capacity. Against its own sibling, the Asp Explorer is simply the better explorer for a little more. The Scout is a value-and-pad pick, not a range pick.

At ~3.82M Cr the Asp Scout is cheap for a medium, with no rank gate. A full exploration fit brings it to around 14M Cr all-in — a capable medium-pad explorer for modest money.

It's a value pick. The Asp Explorer is the better ship for not much more, so the Scout makes most sense when budget is tight but a medium pad and decent capacity are wanted over a small-pad DBE.

A tidy medium-pad explorer fit. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the expedition baseline; Engineered maximises range within the Scout's modest frame.

Buy the hull (~3.82M Cr) and fit only the cheap essentials: a stock 5E Fuel Scoop in the size-5 slot, the buy-only E-rated core internals (the FSD stays stock 4E for now), the stock 4C Fuel Tank, and a 0I Heat Sink Launcher for heat dumps. The hull's default Lightweight Alloy bulkheads are the right plating for an explorer — lowest mass, no spend.

Leave the rest empty at this stage — the Guardian FSD Booster, AFMU, SRV bay, Detailed Surface Scanner and landing shield all wait for the A-rated pass.

No weapons; the lone heat sink is all the utility this state carries.

A-rating priority for a budget medium explorer:

• 1Frame Shift Drive → 4A — Jump range is everything; A-rate the drive first. ~2M Cr
• 2Fuel Scoop → 5A — A good scoop keeps the trip moving. ~2M Cr
• 3Guardian FSD Booster (size 4) — A flat range bonus — a Guardian-site run. material cost
• 4Detailed Surface Scanner (1I) — Cartographic payouts; fit it in the size-1 slot, where it belongs. ~250k Cr
• 5AFMU (3A) + SRV bay (2G) — Self-repair and surface access. ~1.5M Cr
• 6Cores → D-rate — Power plant, thrusters, life support, power distributor and sensors to D for lighter mass and longer jumps. low cost
• 7Bi-Weave Shield (2C) — A light shield for safe landings — no shield booster, the bi-weave alone cushions the odd knock and the saved mass buys range. low cost

The exploration engineering pattern. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; Professor Palin (or Mel Brandon) handles the Clean Drive Tuning thrusters; pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1FSD Increased Range to G5 with Mass Manager for the Scout's ~54 LY range.
• 2Lightweight life support and sensors to shed mass.
• 3Low-Emissions plant for cool scooping.
• 4Clean Drive Tuning thrusters for efficient travel.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineered, the Asp Scout jumps ~54 LY with a complete (if modest) expedition kit on a medium pad, for low money. Stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads (Lightweight Armour G5) keep plating at minimum mass, and dropping the shield booster for the 2C bi-weave alone trims utility weight — every kilo is range. The Asp Explorer does it all a little better for a little more; the Scout's pitch is purely the lower price.

• It's the lesser Asp — the Asp Explorer is the better ship for a little more money.
• Curiously, the cheaper small-pad DBE out-ranges it; the Scout's edge is medium-pad capacity.
• FSD and a class-5 scoop first; then fill the tidy internals with full kit.
• A sensible budget pick, but most explorers will be happier upgrading to the Asp Explorer or a Phantom.