SE-53 Semi-Disposable Reconnaissance Satellite

[Moonsword]

Type: Galax Launch Systems SR-53 Semi-Disposable Reconnaissance Satellite
Chassis Type: Satellite (Medium)
Mass: 15 tons
Equipment Rating: D/D-E-D
Battle Value: 3
Cost: 253,680 C-Bills


Equipment
Chassis/Controls: 2 tons
Engine/Trans: Electric (Solar) 0.1 G (0.2 thrust) station-keeping drive, 7 tons
Structural Integrity: 1
Fuel: 3 tons (69 burn days)
Armor Factor (BAR 2): 2/2/2, 8 points total, 0.5 tons

Weapons and Ammo
None

Cargo
None

Notes: Features a hi-res imager.

Galax Launch Systems, a major leader in satellite design and production, has long produced the SR-53 Semi-Disposable Reconnaissance Satellite.  The basic type is believed to have originally been designed for the Star League Defense Force in the Reunification War and was deployed on both the Taurian and Outworlds fronts.  Lightly armored to protect from debris and little else, the same line of descent was produced through the Star League for SLDF procurement but opened to other customers, a policy continued to this day by the AFFS Office of the Quartermaster.  Frequently used to provide short-term monitoring of operations, the old SE-43s and their descendants were also occasionally procured as monitoring or survey assets thanks to easy maintenance and the ability to shift orbits over time without external support as well as over two months of endurance in unstable orbits (the most frequent use).  Cheap enough to be treated as disposable assets if units are forced off-world, they have been sold to customers from Taurus and Alphard with little concern by the government.  Similar designs that vary little in capability exist in the hands of all five Successor States.  A new generation of ultra-light fusion-powered reconnaissance satellites has challenged the SE-53's market position but the combination of low cost, ease of construction, existing infrastructure, and minimal technical requirements keeps the SE-53 in production.

[truetanker]

Now this is awesome, is there any more in this series? And can I request a miltech version? Or something along that line?

TT

[Dragon Cat]

Very nice, something an RCT would probably have or Military DropShips could carry as part of cargo

[Dave Talley]

which of the books would the rules for constructing that be in?

just for giggles I thru one together in HMA
wanted it to be 10 tons to fit into lifeboat slots

but had to do it as a 10 ton Aerospace fighter
                    AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
                                  VALIDATED

Class/Model/Name:  eyespy
Tech:              Inner Sphere / 3025
Vessel Type:       Aerospace Fighter
Rules:             Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set:         AeroTech2

Mass:              10 tons
Length:            9 meters
Power Plant:       10 Fusion
Safe Thrust:       3
Maximum Thrust:    5
Armor Type:        Standard
Armament:         
    1 Medium Laser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name:  eyespy
Mass:              10 tons

Equipment:                                                              Mass
Power Plant:  10 Fusion                                                   .50
Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 3
      Maximum Thrust: 5
Structural Integrity: 3                                                   .00
Total Heat Sinks:    10 Single                                            .00
Fuel:                                                                    3.00
Cockpit & Attitude Thrusters:                                            3.00
Armor Type:  Standard  (16 total armor pts)                              1.00
                           Standard Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Nose:                                  5
   Left/Right Wings:                   4/4
   Aft:                                   3

Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV  Heat    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Medium Laser             Nose         5     --     --     --    3      1.00
1 Sensors                                                                 .75
1 Comm relay                                                              .75
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                                     Heat: 3     10.00
Tons Left:                                                                .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        548,485 C-Bills
Battle Value:      103
Cost per BV:       5,325.1
Weapon Value:      213 (Ratio = 2.07)
Damage Factors:    SRV = 5;  MRV = 0;  LRV = 0;  ERV = 0
BattleForce2:      MP: 3,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 0
                   Damage PB/M/L: 1/-/-,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: FL;  Point Value: 1

[Moonsword]

Now this is awesome, is there any more in this series? And can I request a miltech version? Or something along that line?

That is the military version of Galax Launch System's product and the same stats represent the SE-43 and the others in that sequence (whose numbers I haven't decided on).  It's just not one that the SLDF or AFFS to have ever felt any particular need to care overmuch about civilian or even foreign acquisitions.  The only thing either force ever felt compelled to worry about was protecting their own encryption for battlefield communications which is done by the expedient of using a standardized plug-in module that the customer loads with their own encryption sequences.

GLS and their competitors been playing with some other designs but I don't feel like doing the math to make them right now.  In addition, keep in mind that this is not the be-all, end-all of satellite recon capabilities.  It's not.  It's a cheap, reasonably low-tech option for carrying along your own satellite reconnaissance assets that frequently gets repurposed for other uses by non-military operators because it's cheap and available.  Both forces had more sophisticated hardware available to them and frequently used it, but it was more expensive, usually required more cargo space, and sometimes not as amenable as the SE-43 and -53 proved to be to flexible operating conditions.

which of the books would the rules for constructing that be in?

just for giggles I thru one together in HMA
wanted it to be 10 tons to fit into lifeboat slots

They're in Tactical Operations.  HMA doesn't build support vehicles.  As far as lifeboats go, keep in mind that lifeboats are seven tons, not ten.

[NightmareSteel]

I like the design.  That's something that would be deployable over a fortified world.  A good way to gather information on a Castle Brian complex without putting a dropship in a killbox would be to deploy this thing via a cargo-carrying ASF or Small Craft.

I'd been tempted to put one of these together for awhile- now I don't have too!

[truetanker]

* pokes NightmareSteel to attempt his own design for prosperity purposes *

 [whipit]

TT  O:-)

[boilerman]

So how cheap can you make it?  I got a comm satellite down to about 12,000 cb with just a ton of comm gear.

[Moonsword]

So how cheap can you make it?  I got a comm satellite down to about 12,000 cb with just a ton of comm gear.

At this tech rating, you can't get any cheaper without shaving off the fuel to decrease size and even then you don't get too much smaller.  Since the fuel (or, rather, the ability to use unstable orbits or move between them without external support that the fuel allows) was part of the point, there's not a lot you can do without losing part of the point of the design.

Keep in mind that you're never going to get as cheap as a communications satellite can be.  The imager itself is 150k C-Bills and is 2.5 tons, meaning it has to be larger than the smallest possible communications satellite even before you account for the frame and engine.  I'll look at the specific numbers for a minimum size a little later - there's a lot of individual factors to mess with and since I do my numbers by hand, it takes a certain amount of time to play around with them all.

[boilerman]

Of course a recon satellite is going to weight and cost more than a comm satellite, I'm just wondering how small and cheap you can make it.

I think that a 15-ton satellite is a bit big when the payload is only 2.5 tons, but I haven't done the number crunching so I don't know what can be done.

[Moonsword]

Yeah, it would be but the SE-53's payload isn't 2.5 tons.  It's 5.5 tons for the intended endurance (60 days) with a fission or solar engine, both of which are fairly heavy engine types (especially solar engines) and require more fuel per burn-day.  The requirement to use TR D parts bumps the tonnage needs for the structure and engine again.

I wasn't trying an absolute austerity exercise, which would remove the fuel tank, strip the armor, and then reduce tonnage to the minimum possible while evaluating the engine types for cost.  Since satellites don't currently have a TR multiplier in the cost, that means there's no reason not to use TR F tech in that sort of exercise.

[Showers]

Great design. You've inspired me to dust off my copy of Tac Ops and start working on some of my own sat designs.

[VhenRa]

Might be a bit wrong reviving this after two months.


But I did the math there... that thing could potentially make a transit from a standard jump point to planetary orbit in about a month..

[idea weenie]

But I did the math there... that thing could potentially make a transit from a standard jump point to planetary orbit in about a month..

Your math is likely correct.  A satellite with 1/10 the acceleration of a Dropship in transit mode (1 G), will take SQRT(10) times as long.

So if you halve the acceleration, it will take SQRT(2) times as long.  Quadruple the acceleration, and it will take half the time (SQRT(1/4)).  Essentially, if you travel n times as fast, it will take SQRT(1/n) times as long.  This is assuming both trips are constant acceleration/deceleration.

[Moonsword]

That wasn't really the point but it's a neat trick provided you have some sort of use for the satellite out there.

[Giovanni Blasini]

That wasn't really the point but it's a neat trick provided you have some sort of use for the satellite out there.

Redeploy to cover likely pirate points.

[idea weenie]

Redeploy to cover likely pirate points.

If you really want to cover pirate points, you use a couple communications satellites, and a space station with Teleoperated missiles.  All of them orbit the pirate point (L1 points can be orbited) outside the jump volume, while monitoring it.  If something jumps in that is not scheduled, the comm satellites query it (playing a pre-recorded message to make it look like a manned platform).

If the arrival tries to hush the satellites via weapons fire, the space station launches teleoperated missiles (with or without nuclear warheads) from a silent direction.  Recon satellites can tell how many missile waves to launch, and rough priority targets.  The missiles are timed to arrive simultaneously, to make the arrival's defensive options there very hard.