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Darter Series Inter-Nexus Skimmer

Darter class ship
Image from Steve Bowers and Ryan B
A Darter series ship accelerating using its plasma conversion drive (magsail not deployed)

The Darter Series Inter-Nexus Skimmer is the most popular and iconic starship design from the BLISS design school. As with all BLISS creations the Darter Series is a sublime combination of ultra-technology and retro-classic aesthetics.

First revealed in 7,001 AT, three hundred Darter-A.1 vehicles were hand fabbed by BLISS operatives and donated to worthy groups across the Terragen Sphere. One year later the generic template was released to the net, functionally identical but carrying far less prestige.

The marques of the Darter series vary little. The shape is a 1 kilometre long needle with a 250,000m3 microgravity hab section. Propulsion is provided from a plasma conversion drive and a deployable mag-sail. Fully fueled at a ratio of 10:1 fuel:ship a Darter Skimmer boasts 6,000 km/s of Delta-V. For most long-range trips the ship simply rides along the beam-network.

There are an estimated one-hundred-thousand Darter Skimmers in existence. Whilst they are not overly remarkable in themselves the classic A.1 versions are highly sought after in collector circles.

 
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Development Notes
Text by Ryan B
Initially published on 01 October 2016.

 
 
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