Mining Ships

Mining Ships are private (AI control) ships which supplement your Mining Stations by temporarily mining resources.

The basic "Mining Ship" is used to mine rocky bodies for minerals, and needs a Mining Engine. The "Gas Mining Ship", by contrast, harvests gaseous elements from gaseous bodies with a Gas Extractor. Both types need some form of Cargo Bay to hold their wares, over and above the basic set of ship components, and their civilian nature limits them to a single weapon. A Luxury Resource Extractor can also be of value, for those resources which are neither mineral nor gas.

Because of their limited size and defensive capabilities, Mining Stations are generally a better investment; however, they have better responsiveness to transitory demand than station-building.