Roberts Space Industries (RSI)
Founded in 2075, Roberts Space Industries have pioneered space travel since the early 2100s when they invented the Zeus, humanities first ship capable of short-distance flight. These first attempts were limited to only the super wealthy, but it wasn’t long before they found a way to deliver space travel to the masses with their range of Aurora and Constellation spaceships.
The RSI Constellation
The Constellation series comes in (4) flavors and is designed to cater to a broad range of needs. The original base model is a multi-person freighter, the bestselling ship in the RSI line up.
The Constellation is often favored by merchants and smugglers, due to its cargo capacity, high-power output, and modularity. Options such as:
- Enhanced cargo hold
- Electromagnetic barriers to hide contraband
- Internal bulkheads to allow for higher damage endurance
- Avionic upgrades for better targeting, ship identification, and sensor range
- Comes with snub nose fighter that is launched directly from the parent ship
Each Constellation model includes a manned turret, a sizable cargo area, and a flight deck. Recently four additional models were revealed which provide additional features.
The Andromeda – Gun Ship
The Andromeda base model holds a crew of 5 and comes with a P-52 Merlin in the hangar – a dedicated parasite fighter, designed for one crew member to hop in and join a dogfight with speed. This maneuverable little ship measures in at 12 meters in length making it ideal for racing, fast-paced combat and a bit of discretely localized reconnaissance. If destroyed in battle, the P-52 Merlin comes with a lifetime replacement insurance making it a reliable tool for any fleet concerned about risking resources.
The Andromeda can hold 134.4 Cargo Units, is 61.1 meters in length and holds a maximum of 6 power plants and shields, 4 engines, and 8 thrusters.
Aquila – Expedition
The Aquila is designed for exploration and comes with a redesigned cockpit allowing for extra visibility but only 4 crew members. This variant comes with the P-52 above, plus an Ursa Rover for planetside investigations.
Holding 4 passengers, the Ursa Rover allows teams to head out and explore, featuring two CF-117 Bulldog Laser Repeaters for protection, it also offers military-grade all-terrain capabilities making it perfect for scouting, mapping and discovering new features across the universe.
The Aquila can hold 134 cargo units, is 60.1 meters in length and holds a maximum of 6 power plants and shields, 4 engines and 8 maneuvering thrusters.
The Phoenix – Luxury Touring
The Phoenix is the luxury variant of the Constellation series, designed for 4 crew members. Featuring discrete cargo storage, an enhanced ‘Lynx’ Rover and a Kruger P-72 Archimedes fighter. This ship is designed for style, with a mini-bar, hot tub, meeting room and other high-end finishing touches. The cargo area features a hidden sensor-dampened area for fragile cargo.
For the major party animals, there is an advance Phoenix Emerald model that also includes a ‘Lucky’ paint finish and an upgraded ‘swank’ interior cabin intended for pure revelry.
The Taurus – Medium Freight
The heavy lifter of the Constellation family is the Taurus. A 4 crewmember, freight freight-focused that strips out the unnecessary aspects, and focuses purely on expanded cargo.
Perfect for soon to be wealthy merchants. This ship is for those looking to build and expand long-term, however, it sacrifices the snub racers, and ground buggies in favor for nearly 100 extra cargo units compared to the other Constellation ships.
The Taurus is slightly shorter in length than its counterparts but comes with an additional 5th shield slot, a maximum of 6 power plants, 4 engines, and 8 maneuvering thrusters.
With upgrades and amendments, the constellation series can be stretched to hold a maximum crew of up to ten people, with higher cargo capacities and many other features on hand to truly personalize your investment. All variations come with an RSI Jump Engine to allow Jump Point travel between star systems.
P-72 Archimedes – Snub Nose Fighter
The P-72 Archimedes is a perfect sidekick to the Constellation Phoenix. Although it is the same size, this is the flashy upmarket sister to the P-52 Merlin. The Archimedes is a luxury racer, boasting two ‘size three’ thrusters and 12 ‘size two’maneuvering thrusters to allow the Archimedes to push the laws of physics to their limit.
My Impressions
I owned the Constellation Aquila as part of my gaming package for quite some time during its original design. And while think the redesign was AMAZING and well worth the wait, in the end, it felt like a duplication of other ships in my fleet.
- Price vs. size vs. features, the Connies are very competitive ships.
- As an exploration ship, it didn’t provide the atmosphere I wanted.
- The struts all over the cockpit view annoy me.
- The HUD – well, I shed a tear for current owners everytime I see it. I’m sure it will get fixed but for now, it’s simply horrendous.
- If you want that Star Trek feel then I can see wanting and enjoying the Connie.
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