Type-6 TransporterExploration

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.

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.

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.

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 Type-6 is the cheap cargo-capable pick. Every rival jumps further, but none is cheaper or carries trade goods as readily while still exploring. Buy it for budget versatility and cargo room, not for range.

Other classes — the cheaper and the better

Curiously, the cheaper small-pad DBE out-ranges the Type-6 and lands anywhere — so the Type-6's edge is cargo room and a medium pad. For a proper medium explorer, the Asp Explorer is the upgrade. The Type-6 is the budget cargo-and-explore hull, not a range pick.

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.

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.

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.

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
• 3Guardian FSD Booster 5 — The largest flat range bonus available. material cost
• 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

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.

Recommended order

• 1FSD Increased Range to G5 with Mass Manager for the Type-6's ~48 LY range.
• 2Lightweight life support and sensors to shed mass.
• 3Low-Emissions plant for cool scooping with the big class-5 scoop.
• 4Clean Drive Tuning thrusters for efficient travel.

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.

• 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.