Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I have been looking at distances in our Solar System between planets, and got to thinking about the economics of gas giant skimming. The idea is to get free fuel, so that you do not have to buy it at your destination.
However, if your destination planet is on the other side of the star from the gas giant you just skimmed, your destination might be several hundred millions of kilometers away. You are not going to cover that in Jump Space, so you use your maneuver drive and boost to it. That could take anywhere from 3 days to close to a week, depending on your drive. That is time when your ship is not earning anything, but your passengers and crew are still eating and breathing, using up life support stores, and you ship is more exposed to possible dangers. Then, when you reach the planet, you still need to find more cargo and passengers, but instead of two jump that months, you are making only one. That is going to make it a lot harder to make your ship and crew payments for that month.
My question is then, does it really make sense to spend the time trying to save some money skimming a gas giant, when it costs you the revenue from an additional jump?
However, if your destination planet is on the other side of the star from the gas giant you just skimmed, your destination might be several hundred millions of kilometers away. You are not going to cover that in Jump Space, so you use your maneuver drive and boost to it. That could take anywhere from 3 days to close to a week, depending on your drive. That is time when your ship is not earning anything, but your passengers and crew are still eating and breathing, using up life support stores, and you ship is more exposed to possible dangers. Then, when you reach the planet, you still need to find more cargo and passengers, but instead of two jump that months, you are making only one. That is going to make it a lot harder to make your ship and crew payments for that month.
My question is then, does it really make sense to spend the time trying to save some money skimming a gas giant, when it costs you the revenue from an additional jump?