Asp Explorer

The Asp Explorer is the civilian version of the military model Asp Mk II's (which first saw service in 2878). Lakon Spaceways now owns the licence to construct these ships and has marketed them heavily at customers looking for their first multi-crewed ships. The ship class has earned a solid reputation for long range missions and those requiring some discretion.

— In-Game Description

The Asp Explorer has a high jump range relative to other ships in the game and thus is quite good for use as an exploration ship. It has six weapon hardpoints and has a good turning radius for its size which makes the Asp good for more than just exploration. The Asp can act as a heavy-duty bounty hunting vessel due to its superb weapon capacity and good manoeuvrability for its size. Pirates can also use the Asp to great effect because of the ample cargo capacity, heavy armament, long jump range and large mass (allowing it to charge its own Frame Shift Drive with minimal mass disruption while also mass disrupting the frame shift drive of most ships). The Asp Explorer also features a copilot seat located directly under the player's seat, visible while outfitting the ship.

The main downside of this ship is the high initial purchase cost and high maintenance costs. Many roles that the Asp fills can be fulfilled with cheaper ships, though the Asp's performance is typically better than that of the less expensive option. An example would be pirating which can be done in a Cobra whose purchase cost is 6.3 million credits less, while still having a moderate cargo capacity and comparable weapon armament. Another example would be trading which can be done in a Type-6 Transporter that has nearly the same cargo capacity, and costs 5.6 million credits less. A further example would be bounty hunting which can be done better in a Vulture which is more manoeuvrable and has higher firepower, while costing 1.7 million credits less.

The Asp Explorer can be purchased at a 20% discount at Irkutsk station in the Alliance capital system of Alioth.

The weapon hardpoints are located as follows: On each side of the cockpit, 1 medium hardpoint above the waterline and 1 small hardpoint below the waterline (total 2 medium, 2 small), and 2 small hardpoints located directly beneath the cockpit. Due to the shape of the ship and the hardpoint locations, the medium hardpoints and small hardpoints share a small field of fire (i.e mostly directly ahead). Pilots should be aware that Turrets in both Medium Hardpoints will have firing arcs above the cockpit where the pilot can generally see the target that the turrets are shooting at. However, turrets in all four Small Hardpoints will have firing arcs below the cockpit, where the target will tend to be obscured from the pilot's vision by the flight console and the floor.

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date Seen	Discount	Sector
LHS 215	Spring Gateway	Oct 7, 2015		-20:13:-10
Losin	Wohler Landing	Sep 27, 2015	15%	-10:-30:-30
10 Canum Venaticorum	HE Port	25 May, 2015		0:55:0
41 Gamma Serpentis	Kidman Settlement	Feb 18, 2015		-10:26:30
44 B Ophiuchi	Feustel Gateway	July 15, 2015		0:8:90
Abrog	Thagard Ring	Feb 07, 2015		-120:-43:10
Aasgananu	Houssay Ring	Jun 24, 2015	15%	-30:-63:-70
Aiabiko	White Orbital	Mar 13, 2015		-80:1:-10
Alioth	Irkutsk	1.06	20%	-30:72:-20
Altair	Solo Orbiter	Jan 05, 2015		-10:-3:20
Andhrimi	Yurchikhin	Feb 28, 2015		20:-55:20
Angurongo	Dahm Port	May 28, 2015		80:-160:40
Aphra	Beckman Terminal	Feb 06, 2015		-60:-5:70
Arawere	Korolyov Hub	Oct 4, 2015		-40:-102:30
Asgaa	Wheeler Horizons	Apr 20, 2015		-10:10:90
Atlantis	Kimura	Jan 03, 2015		70:-118:50
Ba Babal	Caryanda Orbital	Jan 8, 2015		30:114:120
BD-22 3573	Khayyam Orbital	Apr 11, 2015		70:75:70
Belarsuk	Kurland Hub	Mar 29, 2015		50:-21:40
Beta-1 Tucanae	Adams Orbital	Jan 03, 2015		70:-110:50
Beta Hydri	Komovoy	Jan 06, 2015		20:-16:20
Black Mausoleum	Silves Dock	Jan 06, 2015
Bragpurukab	Zalyotin Hub	Mar 22, 2015		20:-23:100
Brani	Virtanen Hub	July 15, 2015		60:-12:60
Bulgarlmadi	Eggleton Terminal	September 21, 2015		140:-109:50
Bunda	Faraday Ring	Dec 31, 2014		70:17:30
Candecama	Horrocs Gateway	Jul 30, 2015		60:-100:90
Cauani	Hardy City	Jan 2, 2015		-60:18:80
CD-72 190	Phillips Terminal	Oct 5, 2015		120:-114:50
Chapsugaibo	Schlesinger City	Gamma 1.05		50:-81:20
Chona	Smoot Station	Aug 17, 2015		110:-112:70
Diaguandri	Ray Gateway	Aug 22, 2015	15%	0:-63:-100
FK5 2550	Vela Ring	Gamma ?		20:22:70
FK5 2550	Wundt Gateway	Gamma 1.05		20:22:70
Frigga	Henson Ring	Feb 07, 2015		130:-25:40
Gallemi	Rabinowitz Vision	Feb 14, 2015		70:-263:0
GD 219	McKee Ring	Feb 23, 2015		-40:0:50
Gliese 563.1	Matteucci Ring	Jul 23, 2015		-30:70:20
Gliese 868	Bacon Port	June 16, 2015		0:-39:20
Guy	Mondeh Terminal	16th Jan, 2015		30:14:10
Heike	Brunel City	Gamma 2.03		-70:71:70
Herthans	Henry Vision			50:-122:50
Ho Hsien	Dutton Station	Jan 2, 2015		-70:21:40
Inarajajara	Laval Terminal	Sept 9, 2014		-80:-94:-30
Jera	Moore Dock	Feb 15, 2015		40:-84:50
Jonai	Privylov Port	May 26, 2015		-90:18:90
Kamorin	Godwin Vision	? 1.03		-120:-82:50
Khampti	Wafa Hub	May 25, 2015		60:-148:50
Ki Laufey	Fiennes Orbital	July 20, 2015		170:-15:0
Kokojina	Ali Ring	Feb 12, 2015		0:-7:60
Koira	Ahern Installation	July 20, 2015		140:17:60
Kugay	Shepherd Dock	? 1.03		40:-95:-70
Kumata	Vishweswarayya Enterprise	Jan 1, 2015		-150:67:-30
Kurmodiae	Virchow Dock	Jul 23, 2015		-30:23:80
LFT 926	Meredith City	Dec 31, 2014		60:17:40
LFT 1300	Virchow Dock	Mar 20, 2015		40:-17:40
LHS 2764A	Low Orbital	Gamma 2.0		0:54:10
LHS 3447	Dalton Gateway	Jan 19, 2015		-40:-6:60
LHS 3505	Olivas City	Apr 16, 2015		-30:-13:40
LHS 3564	Froude Enterprise	24/05/15		-60:-33:60
LP 908-11	So-Yeon City	Dec 29, 2014		50:25:20
LTT 377	Zoline Port	Jan 03, 2015		10:-64:10
LTT 7548	Boltzmann Station	Oct 8, 2015		-30:-13:80
Lwen	Oliver Enterprise	Jan 2, 2015		-50:-29:90
Malarhones	Kurtz Dock	Mar 29, 2015
Maljenni	Bowsersox Enterprise	Dec 31, 2014
Mizar	Judson Station	May 27, 2015
Rhea	Ito Orbital	Jul 21, 2015
Saktsak	Bursch Enterprise
Sanuma	Dunyach Orbital	Jan 10, 2015
Seleru Bao	Leinster Ring	Sep 21, 2015	15%
Siddha	Meuron Station	Apr 16, 2015
Tiolce	Gordom Terminal	Apr 13, 2015
Tote	Whitelaw Enterprise	July 26, 2015
Turir	Brooks Terminal
Una	Hoard Orbital	Feb 19, 2015
Uoluskas	Moisuc Dock	Gamma 1.05
V1688 Aquilae	Littlewood Terminal	Jan 11, 2015
Wolf 867	Dana terminal	June 24, 2015
Xihe	Zhen Dock	Aug 16, 2015
Yembo	Naddoddur Terminal	Apr 12, 2015
Zaonce	Ridley Scott	Jan 3, 2015
Zaragas	Jenner Hub	Jan 9, 2015

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customizable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Asp Explorer.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Small Hardpoint	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	1
	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	1
	Empty	--	--	1
	Empty	--	--	1
Medium Hardpoint	Empty	--	--	2
	Empty	--	--	2
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	I	1	8
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	5	5
Thrusters Mounting	Thrusters	E	5	5
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive	E	5	5
Environment Control	Life Support	E	4	4
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	4	4
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	5	5
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [x32]	C	5	5
Internal Compartments	Cargo Rack [x32]	E	5	6
	Shield Generator	E	5	5
	Cargo Rack [x4]	E	2	3
	Empty	--	--	3
	Empty	--	--	3
	Cargo Rack [x2]	E	1	2
	BDS	E	1	2

• (L) = Loaned
• [x#] = Capacity
• BDS = Basic Discovery Scanner

Trivia

• First revealed in Newsletter #6.
• Released with Beta 2.0 on 9/30/14.
• Starting Cargo capacity has been lowered from 70 in Beta to 38 in Gamma.

Gallery

• Asp Drawings
  Asp Drawings
• Asp Shipyard
  Asp Shipyard
• Asp Stock
  Asp Stock
• 
  Asp View
• 
• Check out that ASP
  Check out that ASP
• 
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Aft Bottom View
• 
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Aft Top Hangar View
• 
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Front Bottom Coriolis Hangar
• Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Front View on Outpost
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Front View on Outpost
• 
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Front Top Coriolis Hangar
• 
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Top Aft View on Outpost
• Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Supercruise Aft View
  Asp Explorer - Red Pharao Supercruise Aft View

References

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