BT-249 Passenger Spacecraft

A type of large passenger spacecraft that is still being designed by various Zikrat Scientific Citizenry engineering teams.

The BT-249 is seen as the successor to current large passenger spacecraft. It could theoretically achieve a much higher velocity in atmosphere and acceleration in space, while keeping its passengers more safe with a stronger frame and more redundant systems, and will be much quieter than more current transport spacecraft which should improve passenger morale significantly. It would have a number of much more advanced technologies which will make it quite expensive initially, but those technologies may go into production on a larger scale after the introduction of the BT-249, hopefully reducing its sheer cost significantly.

2 test models have already been built, one on Rarebb and the other on a nearby habitable ZSC world. The BT-249 on Rarebb is named Artemis and the one on the other ZSC colony is named Thunderbolt. They have already proven capable of quickly ascending to orbit and descending to the surface, which would slash transport times considerably. Partly due to this, it is sometimes a symbol of the continued zikrat progression of achieving spaceflight and getting ever closer to the stars, and eventually, establishing themselves as a galactic superpower. Though that dream has not been realised, the BT-249 gives its people hope that one day this could be achieved.

From the outside, the craft resembles a kind of large aircraft with a modified engine which can gimbal to face any direction within a cone behind it. This gives it some utility in space for making maneuvers, as space has no atmosphere. It is locked in the forwards position while in atmosphere. It also has a number of RCS thrusters positioned in various locations on its exterior. The craft will automatically seal these holes while in atmosphere to prevent the weather from entering, as there is no weather in space.

The whole vehicle is roughly 100 m in length and can hold several hundred passengers. 

As the Zikrat species is no longer organic, there is a much less significant restriction placed on the maximum g-force that it can pull. This also gives the pilot the ability to pilot the ship directly, without having to use controls, only by using electricity travelling through their circuits. This gives them a significantly shorter response time and far superior control and stability, but pilots will probably need to train for this kind of aircraft control because it is so different from what they would be used to. This is often done in simulations not unlike the virtual universes of the HF, though far less powerful. It can be difficult ascending beyond the stratosphere because the air pressure changes significantly as one travels into higher atmospheric layers, and this fact demands that pilots adjust to these changes on the fly.

Despite this, there have not yet been any failed flights or crashes, which also helps to encourage the pilots to not become the first incident.