RE: [OT]-Interstellar Trade

>Well, here is my take on it when I set up ITTT
>(http://members.xoom.com/rlyehable/gzg/ittt.html).

>3) Small colonies will have neither an orbital platform, nor a space
port.

>They will have a beacon, and a landing zone. Again, traders will have
to
>have interface craft to transport cargo to the surface. There the
containers

>will be unloaded and reloaded with exports. This may take a little time
as

>they may not have an exchange container and may have to unload the
container

>before they can load the exports. Larger companies will donate an
exchange

>container to make the stop quicker, but free traders will not have the
>resources to provide each stop with an exchange container (and make the
trip

>with an empty container to give them as an exchange container). Since
ITTT

>and IAS have "standardized" the modular containers, this is less of an
issue

>than it once was. Even small colonies can now manufacture containers
(but it

>is standard law that the manufacturer is responsible for losses traced
to a

>container that fails in the first 10 years of its service). 

This fits in very well with the OU concept of patrol ships having an
8-mass
space "free". A standard re-supply configuration module has a 3-mass
hanger
for a 2-mass lander, plus 5 spaces for cargo etc.

It's interesting that 2 OU Patrol ships in this configuration have
exactly the
same capabilities as a Kra'Vak "Kanga" raider. Which fits in with the
OU's penchant
for Special Ops.

I can see both ITT and OU ships occasionally filling in for each other.
And
the OU supplying some of its Patrol Config designs to the ITT. This is
particularly
good when the OU ships could have their 8-mass filled with, say, a
standard
Gunpack module of 3 type-2s, a type-1 and a PDS.