The Human Alliance wanted to see results in space, fast. Therefore, HASF dug out every single file on Project: Orion and NASA's External Pulse Plasma Propulsion-- a viable, powerful, yet insane form of space propulsion. And then gave a team of one hundred top-notch engineers and physicists to get a 10,000 ton ship in space within ten years.
That was back in 2038. Now, the Human Alliance fields six of these massive spacecraft.
Internal Designation: Heavy Space Transport Vessel
Classification: Cargo Ship
Displacement: 10,000 tons
Hull length: 200 meters
Number: 6+2 in 2054
Capacity[]
The Orion-class carries three ship-to-ship “taxis”, each able to carry two tons 1,000 kilometers. In addition, it can carry a maximum of 1,500 tons of cargo in its Small Cargo Module (designed for Earth-to-Saturn and back), while 4,000 tons can be carried in its Large Cargo Module (designed for Earth-to-Moon and back).
Sensors[]
The Orion-class carries a nose-mounted space-grade X-band pulse Doppler radar and thermographs for finding its way in space. Fuel Cells and pneumatic shock absorber-mounted electricity generators power the avionics and other electronics.
Anti-Spacecraft Weaponry[]
None.
Anti-Surface Weaponry[]
None.
Upgrades[]
None.
Protection[]
Passive[]
The Orion-class gets steel and Kevlar plating, as well as lead radiation shielding, to protect it from micro-meteorites, cosmic rays, and radiation from the detonation of its pulse units.
Locomotion[]
The Orion-class uses nuclear pulse propulsion, which gives it immense thrust and an interplanetary travel velocity of 100km/s.
A pulse unit, consisting of a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon encased in a non-fissionable Uranium “radiation case” that has a hole on the top is dropped off from the spacecraft and detonates. Before the entire “radiation case” is atomized by the explosion, focused x-rays from the nuclear detonation hit a radiation channel filter consisting of Beryllium Oxide, which converts the x-rays into a massive amount of heat. The heat flashes a tungsten plate on top of the Beryllium Oxide, turning it into a jet of plasma traveling in excess of 1.5x10^3 meters per second, which crashes into the graphite-coated steel pusher plate on the spacecraft, accelerating the spacecraft by about 12 meters per second each. Each propulsion unit is continuously dropped off at 1 second intervals until the spacecraft achieves its propulsion requirements. A single Orion-class ship carries up to 3,500 tons of pulse units in helical magazines that are disposed of as they are emptied.