The issues that cath my eye into my head after some time to consider.
1. I rescind my orignal comemnt about the poor cargo tonnage as it appears that Tech Manual has either an error or retcon that places a standard cargo container at 10 tons rather than the 25 tons it was back in the FASA days.
2. Armor is waay to light. Your first flubbed atmospheric reentry roll is likely to result in the craft breaking up since teh damage is equal to 5 points X the MoF.
3. Speed is probably a bit too high. High speed courier is a specialized market niche with an associated infrastructure premium that regular shippers don't want to pay for. Most shippers will be more than happy with the cheaper 3/5 craft since it's exo-atmospheric capability means even at that thrust curve it can be anywhere o nthe planet within 90 minutes via a sub-orbital hop.
4. Again, I think the small laser is a waste of tonnage and money. If you look at the availability codes fo weapons, you quickly realize that in the major powers, weapons are fairly tightly regulated as are almsot certainly their licensed operators. It's not such a big deal for a mid-sized shipping firm to to pay the licensing fee for the weaps on a half dozen droppers and their crew, but it's quite another both economically and administratively to a mid-sized delivery firm to license the hundreds to thousands of Hoppers and their pilots. This is excerbated by the ineffectiveness of the weapon. It does nothing mroe than keep the honest honest. Any significant threat be it pirates or megafauna would require heavier weaponary and therefore an escort.
FWIW, ask yourself if you have the small laser ebcause its' really needed or simply because this is Battletech and everything is armed in Battletech. You'd be amazed how many people don't realize it's the latter until they think about it.
5. Design Quirks: My suggestion: Atmospheric Flyer (3), Easy to Maintain (1), Fast Reload (1)No Ejection System (-2), and Poor Performance (-3). A cargo ship that's not moving is a money sink rather than a revenue generator so halving cargo loading via Fast Reload is a no brainer. Likewise, Poor Performance nicely mimics the feel of a "lumbering" freighter without really hindering the ship except in possible RP situations where a shrewd GM can use to build tension.
6. I persoanlly would look for slightly different art. General break cargo (as opposed to bulk cargo) has roughly a volume of 1 cubic foot for every 50 lbs so a meteric ton is ~45 cubic feet. So, 10 tons is roughly a cube that's 8 feet on a side though I'd probably go with a 10 -20 ft. cargo bay so odd-sized loads can be hauled.
A lto of criticism there, but pelase don't think I hate the design. It has promize, you're filling a niche that needs addressed, I just personally think it needs just a bit of tweaking to realistically fill that niche. Try it again as a 3/5 design and you'll find that you have a cheaper, better armored design with a smidge more payload.
-Jackmc
