A budget trader that doubles as a capable medium explorer
The Type-6 hides a roomy explorer inside a cheap trade hull. Eight optional internals — two class-5 — carry a large fuel scoop, full exploration kit, and cargo simultaneously on a medium pad, for under a million credits. It ranks mid-pack because a class-4 FSD and a slow, lightly-shielded frame cap range and pace below the dedicated explorers — but for cargo-plus-exploration on one budget medium, it earns its place.
This ship's 1–100 suitability rating reflects its fully-engineered fit for this role, scored against every ship in the role. See how ships are rated.
01
Role & Overview
The Type-6 Transporter is Lakon's entry-level medium freighter, but its roomy hull makes it an unexpectedly handy budget explorer. Eight optional internals — two of them class 5 — carry a large fuel scoop, scanner, AFMU and SRV bay with room left for cargo, and a medium pad lands it at most stations. For under a million credits, that's a lot of versatile deep-space capability.
It's a trader at heart, so it's slow, lightly shielded and its class-4 FSD gives only a modest ~48 LY engineered — the dedicated explorers, even the cheap DBE, jump further. But few budget ships combine this much cargo room, a big scoop and medium-pad access. For a commander who wants to explore and haul on one cheap hull, or to ease into exploration in a familiar trade ship, the Type-6 quietly delivers.
Where this hull shines
Budget cargo-and-exploration: mixed trade-and-survey trips, hauling exploration data or materials home, exobiology with storage to spare, and easing into deep space in a roomy, familiar medium.
Four things make the Type-6 a handy budget explorer:
Roomy internals. Eight optionals (two class-5) carry a big scoop, full kit and cargo at once — generous for so cheap a hull.
A class-5 fuel scoop. Refuels fast — bigger than most small explorers can fit, keeping long trips moving.
Medium-pad access. Lands at the vast majority of stations — more flexible resupply than a small explorer.
Cheap and versatile. Under a million credits, and the same hull trades, mines or explores — a budget jack-of-trades.
The ceiling, stated honestly
It's a trader: slow, lightly shielded, with only three utilities and a class-4 FSD giving a modest ~48 LY — the cheap small-pad DBE out-ranges it. It's no dedicated explorer. The Type-6's case is cargo room plus a big scoop and medium pad on a budget — versatility and capacity, not range or pace.
03
Why This Rating
Scorecard
Roomy budget internals and a class-5 scoop on a cheap, gate-free medium carry it; a class-4 FSD capping range at ~48 LY is the limiter.
The 68/100 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.
Role factor
Score
Why this score
Engineered jump range
18/35
A class-4 FSD with Increased Range + Mass Manager reaches only ~48 LY engineered, trailing every medium rival (Asp Explorer ~62, Krait Phantom ~75, Mandalay ~85) and even the cheaper small-pad DBE at ~68.
Heat profile
10/15
A light 155 t trader hull on a stripped, D-rated exploration fit with a G5 Low Emissions plant runs cold, so the class-5 scoop never overheats it; nothing about the build generates problem heat.
Fuel tank & reach
8/10
A Class-5 fuel scoop refuels faster than most budget explorers manage, sustaining long legs; the fixed 4C fuel tank gives adequate per-tank reach for the modest ~48 LY jumps.
Canopy & visibility
6/10
The forward freighter canopy gives a serviceable but unremarkable view — workable for honk-and-scoop touring, well short of the bubble canopies on the Asp Explorer or Dolphin.
Internals
17/20
Eight optionals (5·5·4·4·3·2·2·1, two Class-5) carry a Class-5 scoop, Guardian FSD booster, SRV bay, AFMU, scanner and cargo at once — genuinely roomy for the price, with leftover capacity no dedicated explorer offers.
Comfort & cost
9/10
At ~867k Cr hull with no rank or permit gate and ~7M Cr fully fitted, it is among the cheapest medium explorers; only comfort suffers from a slow 223/356 m/s frame and three utility mounts.
Weighted total
68/100
Matches the headline suitability rating for this ship in this role.
How to read it
Weights are an editorial decomposition of the role's stated priority order — not an in-game formula. Bar length shows how fully each factor is earned; the longest factors carried the score, the shortest are where it gave points away. See how ships are rated.
04
How It Compares
Every table rates ships for exploration specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Optional cap. column is total optional-internal capacity — room for scanners, AFMU and fuel; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.
The large-pad exploration field (5 rated), led by Anaconda (94) — bigger pads and bankrolls. They out-muscle this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.
The small-pad exploration field (9 rated), led by Diamondback Explorer (88) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.
05
Cost & Access
Hull
~867k Cr
A-rated explorer
~3M Cr
Engineered
~7M Cr
Pad
Medium
Rank
None
Permit
None
At ~867k Cr the Type-6 is cheap, with no rank gate, and a full explorer fit stays around 7M Cr all-in — a roomy, cargo-capable medium explorer for modest money.
It's a value-and-versatility pick. For a better dedicated explorer, the Asp Explorer or even the cheaper DBE is the choice; the Type-6 makes sense when you want cargo room and a medium pad alongside exploration on a budget.
Cheap cargo-and-explore
A roomy, medium-pad explorer-with-cargo for around 7M Cr all-in — versatile and cheap, though dedicated explorers jump further.
06
3-State Loadout
A roomy budget explorer that keeps its cargo room. Initial is buy-only; A-Rated is the expedition baseline; Engineered maximises jump range while exploiting the Type-6's capacity — explore and haul on the same cheap medium.
Copies the raw Ship Loadout Export Format for that state.
Scoop big, carry cargo
The Type-6's two class-5 optionals take a large A-rated fuel scoop and the class-5 Guardian FSD Booster, with the rest carrying an SRV bay, AFMU, scanner and cargo. Its capacity is the draw — none of the dedicated explorers haul trade goods while they survey.
07
Initial Loadout — Buy-Only Plan
Buy the hull (~867k Cr) with stock E-rated cores — including the class-4 FSD (4E) — on the Type-6's default Lightweight Alloy bulkheads, and drop a class-5 fuel scoop (5E) into one large optional.
Fill the second class-5 optional with a cargo rack (5E) for mixed trips; leave the remaining six optionals empty for now — no scanner, AFMU, SRV bay, Guardian booster or shield yet.
Strip weapons; run a single heat sink launcher as the only utility — two of the three size-0 mounts stay empty until A-rating.
08
A-Rated Loadout — Upgrade Plan
A-rating priority for a roomy budget explorer:
1FSD → A — Jump range is everything; A-rate the drive first. ~1M Cr
2Fuel Scoop → A (class 5) — A big scoop refuels fast — a Type-6 strength. ~2M Cr
4Detailed Surface Scanner — Cartographic payouts; leave it unengineered — no blueprint improves a DSS. ~250k Cr
5AFMU + SRV bay — Self-repair and surface access (3A AFMU, 4H Planetary Vehicle Hangar). ~1M Cr
6Bi-Weave Shield → 2C — A minimal crash shield. The 155t hull tops the class-2 bi-weave mass limit, so it sits at its strength floor — enough to survive a botched landing, no more. cheap
7Second Heat Sink Launcher — Fill a second utility mount (of three) for neutron/white-dwarf supercharge cooling safety. cheap
Big scoop, low cost
The Type-6's class-5 scoop refuels faster than most budget explorers manage — A-rate it and the FSD, then exploit the cargo room for mixed trips. Leave the stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads alone — armour is mass an explorer won't carry.
09
Engineering Plan
The exploration engineering pattern on a budget trader. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; thrusters, plant, distributor and the rest spread across specialist engineers — pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.
Light — standard exploration blueprints on modest medium modules; the Guardian FSD Booster needs a Guardian-site run. With a complete inventory this is spend, not farm. Ask for exact per-blueprint counts if needed.
10
Key Stat Upgrades
Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):
Engineered, the Type-6 jumps ~48 LY with a big scoop, full kit and cargo room on a medium pad, for under a million up front. The stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads stay — engineered Lightweight to shave mass, not to add armour — and the DSS is left unengineered since no blueprint improves it. Its range and pace trail the dedicated explorers; its capacity and versatility are the draw.
11
Key Activities & Where To Do Them
Getting started
Cargo-and-explore trips. Carry trade goods or materials while surveying — the Type-6's natural double act.
Budget medium expeditions. A roomy medium explorer for modest money.
Exobiology with storage. Its SRV bay and cargo room suit sample-and-haul outings.
Advanced
Mixed trade-and-survey. Run a cargo loop with exploration on the side, or vice versa.
Easing into exploration. A familiar trade ship that ventures into the black with little new investment.
Carrier-supported trips. A medium pad docks on fleet carriers and most stations en route.
Generic example destinations
Any deep-space target suits it, especially trips combining cargo and survey. From your home base it pairs a trade run with a short expedition handily.
12
Field Notes — What Else To Know
Exploit the capacity — the Type-6 explores adequately and carries cargo the dedicated explorers can't.
Its class-5 scoop is a real strength — refuel fast and keep moving.
The cheaper small-pad DBE out-ranges it; the Type-6's edge is cargo and a medium pad.
For a proper medium explorer, the Asp Explorer is the upgrade.
Verdict
The Type-6 Transporter is the cargo-hauler that wandered into the black: a cheap medium trader with the room for a big scoop, full kit and cargo, on a medium pad. It's slow and short-legged next to the dedicated explorers — even the small DBE out-ranges it — but for budget cargo-and-exploration on one versatile hull, the freighter that found the stars does the job.
13
Sources
Figures on this page are verified against the sources below.
Elite Dangerous (official)Frontier's official Type-6 Transporter ship page — manufacturer specs, feature overview, and the ship render used on this page.elitedangerous.com/.../type-6-transporter
E:D Black Box