L9 Class Logistics Tender
Design History and Analysis
AMC Registry of Vessels for this class
Gallery Images for this class

Full Thrust Statistics (See Notes) MASS: 10 NPV: 14 Classification: Logistics Tender (AF, AL) Crew: 3; 1 Officer, 2 Ratings Crew Factor: 1 Hull Integrity: 1 (1/0/0/0) Armor: 0 Main Drive Thrust: 1 (200 GW) Drive Auto-Detection Range: 0.578 AU ∆V (Combat): 5.883 km/sec ∆V (Cruise): 117.662 km/sec Fuel Points: 12 (38 tons propellant) Propellant Tank Hits: 1 Thrust Points per Tank: 12 FTL:  No Auxiliary Systems:  8 MASS Cargo Capacity as Freight or Liquid/Gas Storage Combat Systems:  None Weapons:  None Fully Loaded Displacement:  1008 metric tons Empty Displacement:  170 metric tons Length:  80.83 meters nominal length, 104.83 meters with boom extended forward. Beam at widest point:  24.1 meters Nation of Origin:  Estrella Esperanza of Terranova.  Constructed under license by various shipyards and graving docks. Date First Entered Service:  2264 Number Constructed:  Actual numbers unknown.  Believed to be greater than 4000. Number of class known to be present in Sagittarius:  Over 200 Endurance:  Life Support for six for up to 48 hours.

L9 Class SDD

Design History and Analysis:

The L9 and similar spacecraft serve as propellant transfer vehicles for Collier class space stations as well as freight tenders.  The design was first constructed at Estrella Esperanza Shipyards of Terranova in 2264, though it can trace its lineage back as far as the orbital tenders first introduced during the Interplanetary Age of the mid 21st Century.  The L9 has proven to be a popular design, and licensed copies as well as numerous unlicensed knock-offs and variants have been produced during its long tenure of service.

The L9 fuel tender variant delivers up to 800 tons of fuel and reaction mass, typically as slush hydrogen, liquid helium, methane, ammonia, or water to waiting starships.  Even though ships with MASS ratings of 100 or less can typically dock with a Collier for direct refueling, from a safety standpoint it is often more desirable for them to stand off at a reasonable distance and take on propellant from one or more L9s instead.  The L9 is extremely fragile, as it is little more than a drive module, a pair of attitude control modules, a cargo section consisting of eight cylindrical cargo fuel tanks or up to 72 standard shipping containers, and a command and service module connected by a backbone of aluminum and composites.  The drive module can output at best 0.25 G of thrust in high power mode, though it typically operates in the much more efficient cruise mode, where it musters up a lackluster 0.0125 G – sufficient for minor orbital transfers to waiting starships and back to the space station.  The L9, while even less glamorous duty than serving on a Collier, is no less vital to the interstellar economy.

AMC Registry of Vessels for this Class:  Not applicable as a small craft

Gallery Images