Tycho class

The Tycho class was a FTL communications drone starship in use by the Union of Sol in the 22nd century. The Tycho class was employed for both civilian and governmental communications with various star systems.

History
During the early expansions of the Union of Sol into other star systems, and the discovery of the Votos people, the Union of Sol realised that communications via the main fleet was inpractical. To maintain regular communications with humans in other solar systems, the Union of Sol commissioned the Tycho Class from the blueprints of the older EEV-Alpha class. The Alpha-class was updated with a more sophisticated warp ring and an updated reactor core. Furthermore, the craft was completely automatised.

After the initial wave of automated drone ships, the Union of Sol began outsourcing the construction and maintenance of these ships to private communication companies.

Use
The Tycho Class is an automated communications droneship used to carry information across star systems. Since information can not be sent at FTL-speeds, it has to be carried by a vessel. To optimize this process, these ships were automated as much as possible.

A droneship would often follow a specific route, from solar system A to system B and back again. These ships would warp towards an inhabited planet or designated spaceport, download all outbound messages, would warp back towards the intended solar system, and transmit these messages to its intended recipients. The process would then repeat.

These drone ships were also used within solar systems to bypass light delay from laser-communications. In the Sol system, the Tycho class would often warp between Earth and Mars, or Earth and the Jupiter moons.

While the Tycho class was an enormously popular design due to its cheapness and reliability, the class was eventually supplemented by the Hermes class droneship.