GT: Starports and Deep Space Stations

[Spinward Flow]

As a generic proposition, Jump-2 cycles to a fuel cache/station will generically require a 40% jump fuel fraction with reusable L-Hyd drop tanks (for +20% external that get dropped for reuse by other tankers) ... or a 50-60% jump fuel fraction internal load. Simply moving the tanker out and back will cost that 40% fuel fraction on J2+2 ... so whatever you can haul above that amount is delivery tonnage (with more being better, obviously). Fortunately there are B, A and B starports along that run which could manufacture and maintain a L-Hyd drop tank refueling service within their systems to support the tankers running the route for rental fees of the tanks themselves over and above the fuel costs.

Obviously there would be a fair amount of infrastructure involved in supporting those tanker services, but those operations could easily be subsidized in the interests of sustaining communications and commerce across the rift.

 

[willtron3030]

Tens/hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel free-floating unguarded through a systems just seems like a risky idea

If I were a terrorist, I'd hack the acceleration of the boost phase to create simultaneous time-on-target for multiple containers...

 

[Spinward Flow]

If I were a terrorist, I'd hack the acceleration of the boost phase to create simultaneous time-on-target for multiple containers...

And now you've discovered why security personnel are paid very well to NOT have to do anything ...

 

[whartung]

This is quite a fascinating idea. Since each tug has to accelerate, detach, decelerate and return to where it came from, would it be more efficient for the tug to take the canister all the way?

You've never worked with the United Tug Workers union, have you?

The, perhaps, better solution is a robotic, fire and forget solution that manages the entire flight. You would still need some tugs when the systems break down in flight, plus you would have to maintain all of those ships. A fuel pod, ideally, has very little maintenance. If a fuel pod arrives with no fuel, well, I guess you have a leak somewhere and would need to fix that, or scrap the pod.

You use a high G tug to accel/decelerate the pod.

It takes about 12 hours at 4G to accelerate a pod to travel from Jupiter to Earth in 7 days -- assuming they're on the opposite sides of the sun (i.e. Jupiter is as far away as it can be). Obviously you need to slingshot the pod around the sun when the earth is in the solar shadow from Jupiter, perhaps more argument for a robotic pod than a ballistic trajectory. (Why 4G? So that you can get the 6G tug back home faster than it takes to go out, and it gives the deceleration tugs a shorter workload, since they likely need more slack in the system if things go awry)

So, from there, you figure out your base daily fuel load to determine how many pods, how big, how often, etc.

 

[DaltonSpence]

As a generic proposition, Jump-2 cycles to a fuel cache/station will generically require a 40% jump fuel fraction with reusable L-Hyd drop tanks (for +20% external that get dropped for reuse by other tankers) ... or a 50-60% jump fuel fraction internal load. Simply moving the tanker out and back will cost that 40% fuel fraction on J2+2 ... so whatever you can haul above that amount is delivery tonnage (with more being better, obviously). Fortunately there are B, A and B starports along that run which could manufacture and maintain a L-Hyd drop tank refueling service within their systems to support the tankers running the route for rental fees of the tanks themselves over and above the fuel costs.

Obviously there would be a fair amount of infrastructure involved in supporting those tanker services, but those operations could easily be subsidized in the interests of sustaining communications and commerce across the rift.

That seems to be pretty much what I'm getting at. Drop tanks are used for the outgoing jump to the DSS while an internal tank is used for the return jump. That way we don't have to use fuel to move empty fuel tanks. (Except for the payload of course, but that is unfortunately unavoidable.) There are some risks but they would be factored into the costs.

In 814, the Third Imperium and the Hegemony of Lorean entered into a mutual trade pact that provided for a series of deep space stations operating under the joint jurisdiction of both governments. Given that the costs of such stations would most likely exceed their capacity to support themselves, the construction and operation costs for the deep space stations would be subsidized by grants from both governments, as part of the mutual trade pact.

History of the Deep Space Station Project​

This would include building and maintaining all the support ships I listed earlier. My "Drop Tank Recovery Vehicle" (DTRV) would qualify as both a drop tank tender and tug with its 800-ton Oiler (T:FT p.137) or Super Skimmer serving as its tanker. Turley would need at least two DTRVs since it would be fueling two stations. This is why I need more information about the worlds along the Saeghvung-Turley-Exile Run; Turley and Sahale could make the ships but Saeghvung with its Class D starport would need to import them (probably from Asoekh which has a Class B port).

Dalton “Yes it's complicated, but it's fun!” Spence​