Spinward Flow
SOC-14 5K
In essence, the LSP Clipper began as merely a design modification of the older Modular Tug class that had been in limited intermittent production during the Second Frontier War (615-620) in the Spinward Marches at LSP's shipyards. In response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) put to industry by the IISS for logistics services in support of the (then new) Express Boat Network that was being built out on the orders of (then regent, later empress) Arbellatra (from 624 until completion in 718) in anticipation of future support requirements, Ling-Standard Products submitted a design proposal for review.
Although higher technology was available (up to TL=13 at that time, with TL=14 advancements soon to be reached by ~700), since the IISS Communications Office was standardizing their Express Network operations around more easily obtainable and therefore widely maintainable TL=10 standards, Ling-Standard Products offered what has now become known as the LSP Clipper design in an attempt to meet the specifications laid out by the IISS and which would share that technological standard to streamline supply chains and industrial support requirements on that common standard.
What happened next is essentially ancient history now by 1105.
In short, the IISS never acted on their RFP and never moved forward with the plan for a dedicated logistics hauler ship to support Express Network buildout and sustainment of operations. To their credit, the IISS Operations Office rightly decided that a significant fraction of the "step and fetch" work of shuttling supplies at interplanetary scales could be accomplished by Type-S Scout/Couriers operating as "maneuver tugs" for up to 3 Modular Cutter Modules units at a time, eliminating a substantial part of the rationale for the RFP in the first place. Larger loads of interstellar cargo hauling could be supplied by Type-M Subsidized Liners capable of bringing 18-21 personnel and up to another 4 Modular Cutter Modules loaded with supplies for work sites under construction, eliminating the other part of the rationale for the RFP through use of an already existing and proven starship design that was already readily available. So with no real remaining reason to invest in any of the submissions offered in the RFP, the entire program was terminated without a single prototype ever having been tested by the IISS. A lot of bureaucratic wrangling ensued that essentially strangled the project until it was formally terminated in 653.
By corporate standards, LSP in effect "lost" the competition for the RFP contract for logistics support with the IISS (as did everyone else who submitted proposals to it) … but unlike many of the other competitors, LSP had actually gone ahead and constructed a prototype and had been putting it through testing to prove out the engineering and correct any design flaws. The prototype design for what eventually became the LSP Clipper went through several evolutionary revisions in repeated attempts to interest the IISS over a decade, none of which the IISS Operations Office were willing to commit funding to. So by 654, LSP had a thoroughly tested refit design that worked … and no buyer wanting to invest in acquiring it.
In desperation to recoup at least some of the costs that had gone into developing the prototype, LSP started shopping the (then still) new design around to other potential interested parties. The IN feigned polite interest until the matter of funding for deployment in support of navy logistics as a proof of concept in operations became a sticking point, at which feigned interest became deliberate stonewalling. The IN wasn't interested in obtaining any low tech hand-me-downs from their "kid brother" service (the IISS) that had already declined to acquire the starship class.
What happened next was either apocrypha or the luckiest chance meeting one could ever have, but somehow the Ministry of Colonization learned about the prototype redesign and became intensely interested. The wide range of possible mission profiles that redesign offered and enabled, particularly in austere locations with next to no infrastructure support in place yet, resulted in a commitment to fund the continued development work on the prototype including field testing the prototype. If the prototype worked as well as advertised, starting with delivery of E Two class pre-fab Downports as well as Dee Six class Downports on multiple worlds, the Ministry of Colonization was prepared to put the design into limited production in support of their operations.
It worked.
They did.
The LSP Clipper design project was saved, much to the relief of the staff who had worked on it for over a decade by then ... and the rest, is a part of LSP's long history of successes and failures.
At first, sightings of LSP Clippers (quickly dubbed "Lispers" on comm channels) were rare enough to be noteworthy since their design and performance profile were definitely out of the ordinary. With nearly all of ships produced being taken by the Ministry of Colonization and assigned specific duty runs shunting cargo freight, they were not a common sight. Then an enterprising merchant prince approached LSP with a request to purchase one for private commercial use. What started off as a whimsical purchase turned into a remarkably profitable business opportunity. Within a decade, LSP was starting to receive additional inquiries about the pricing and availability of "Lispers" from their shipyards. Then world governments began to take an interest in acquiring copies of the design for subsidy contracts with merchant captains looking to move up into more diverse and lucrative market opportunities. By ~800 the LSP Clippers were in continuous volume production at multiple LSP shipyards to meet diversifying demand for the class.
LSP Clippers are today (as of 1105) considered one of the more unusual merchant transport starship designs that can be encountered along the fringes of Imperial controlled space. The LSP shipyards at Lunion/Lunion, Strouden/Lunion, Glisten/Glisten and Mora/Mora are the primary producing yards for the Spinward Marches and Deneb sectors, while the LSP shipyard at Tobia/Tobia maintains volume production to sustain contact and trade with the Islands Cluster in Reft sector. LSP Clippers can jump from Tobia/Tobia/Trojan Reach across the Great Rift and reach Pamraeltan/Mobin/Reft in as little as 10 jumps through the Islands Cluster, offering a vital communications lifeline that does not rely on passage through the Corridor sector.
) leaving time to go off and have adventures. Furthermore, with L-Hyd drop tank rentals from type A/B starports, the CTE for 2J2 is only 147 tons (not including drop tank rental costs) ... still well below my ship's 435 ton cargo capacity. So with even with a 1/4 full hold (1J2) or a 1/2 full hold (2J2) devoted to transporting cargo, my ship can earn a profit ... and any unfilled cargo space can be "spent" on speculative cargo to pile on even more profit on top of what I'm getting just from the baseline cargo transport revenue.
while merely transporting cargo. I would need to use speculative cargo profits in order to make up the operational shortfall of running my shipping business in that manner (and that speculation had better be making an average profit of nearly MCr0.5 per delivery or around MCr15 per year!). So while there might be intermittent opportunities for this to happen, it's not something you would want to "bet the farm on" happening consistently every time you jump.
So on pure cargo transportation revenue, my ship will STILL be operating at a loss (just not as much of a loss I would be at Jump-4) and would still need profits from speculative cargo to make up the shortfall. However, since the gap between the CTE needed and my cargo capacity is much smaller, it is still theoretically possible to make up the difference by savvy speculative cargo trading, which can include high volume items. So speculative trading is the key to staving off bankruptcy.
