Ships and landing pads — How to Play

The five ship classes, which pads they need, and what happens when they can't land.

Ships arrive on their own. How many come depends on your reputation, your fees and your capacity (see Reputation and traffic).

Ship classes

Ship	Pad	Hold	Landing fee	Available from
Courier	Light	500	600	Level 1
Light Hauler	Light	2,000	800	Level 1
Tanker	Cargo	8,000	1,500	Level 1
Heavy Freighter	Heavy	20,000	3,000	Level 3
Bulk Carrier	Heavy	50,000	6,000	Level 4

Bigger ships bring bigger cargoes and bigger deals, but they need bigger pads.

Pads

Pad	Size	Serves	Unlocked at
Light Pad	30 × 30 m	Light ships	Level 1
Cargo Pad	40 × 40 m	Cargo and light ships	Level 1
Heavy Pad	60 × 60 m	Every ship	Level 3

Turnaround

A ship stays on the pad for at least 90 minutes of game time while its cargo is handled and deals are made. Ships that want repairs stay longer.

When every suitable pad is taken, ships wait in a holding queue. They are patient for about four hours — after that they give up and leave, and your reputation suffers. A Traffic Control Tower makes them more patient and lets more of them queue.

Charter ships and pads

At level 6 your charter brings new traffic, and each kind needs the charter's own pad:

Charter	Ships	Pad
Biomedical Research Facility	Any ship carrying biohazard goods, like stem cells or neural gel: it pays three times the landing fee and waits out a short quarantine	Quarantine Pad (40 × 40 m, converted from a Hazmat Pad)
Hospitality	Liners full of hotel guests and event delegates	Passenger Pad (40 × 40 m, within 80 m of the Civilian Terminal)
Military Storage	The navy's ships: its weekly supply tender, and frigates that put in to resupply	Hardened Pad (60 × 60 m, converted from a Heavy Pad)