Imperial Courier

Imperial Courier

Overview
Manufacturer	Gutamaya
Years Produced	3145-Present
Type	Multipurpose
Cost	2,542,931 CR
Insurance	127,146 CR
Faction	Empire
Faction Rank	Master
Default Specifications
Landing Pad Size	Small
Dimensions	42.1m x 27.4m x 7.1m
Pilot Seats	1
Multicrew	No
Fighter Hangar	No
Hull Mass	35 t
Mass Lock Factor	7
Armour	144
Armour Hardness	30
Shields	230 MJ
Manoeuvrability	4
Top Speed	277 m/s
Boost Speed	380 m/s
Unladen Jump Range	7.81 ly
Cargo Capacity	12 t
Fuel Capacity	8 t
Hardpoints	4x Utility Mounts 3x Medium Hardpoints
Internals	3x Size 1 Compartments 3x Size 2 Compartments 2x Size 3 Compartments
Maximum Non-Engineered Specs
Top Speed	325 m/s
Boost Speed	441 m/s
Unladen Jump Range	33.68 ly
Cargo Capacity	34 t

One of the most compact vessels on the market, the Imperial Courier is a lightweight combat ship from Gutamaya. With agility to rival the Viper Mk III, the Courier is adept at evading incoming fire, while its three medium hardpoints have made it popular with those who want a balance of power and style.

— In-Game Description

The Imperial Courier is a ship manufactured by Gutamaya for the Empire. Described as the quintessential Imperial ship that epitomizes elegance of form while packing a good punch, the Imperial Courier is one of the smallest ships available, barely larger than the Sidewinder MkI and with a lighter mass than all ships except the Sidewinder and Hauler. Although able to be adapted to several roles, the ship's agility and three medium hardpoints make it especially well-suited for combat. Officially, the Imperial Courier is used to provide transport for Imperial officials who do not warrant the privilege of an Imperial Cutter or a Majestic Class Interdictor. However, its flexibility means that it fills many roles for the Imperial Navy and prominent citizens of the Empire.

Overview

The Imperial Courier is well armed and very well shielded for its small size, making it a great and evasive fighter in combat. In terms of agility it ranks somewhere close to the Viper MkIII. While it has a good pitch rotation speed, its slightly weaker vertical-lateral thrusters cause the Courier to drift more than the Viper. Even though the Courier has the same top boost speed as Viper, due to its low hull mass relative to modules, it is slightly slower and can't boost as often as the Viper, dropping down from the top speed faster.

The Imperial Courier's shields are much better than the Viper MkIII's and Cobra MkIII's, being almost on par with those on a Vulture. Unlike the Vulture, the Imperial Courier does not have such severe power management issues, and is thus better able to equip shield boosters and Shield Cell Banks.

The weapon hardpoints are located in the following places: 1 medium hardpoint at the front of each engine nacelle, and 1 medium hardpoint underneath the nose. Utility mounts are located 1 on top of each nacelle and 2 more in-line top centre of the hull behind the cockpit canopy.

While the Imperial Courier can achieve an excellent jump range between 30-50 ly with Engineering, it is not suited for long-term exploration. The Courier's diminutive size and light weight works against it in this situation: it can only fit a Class 3 Frame Shift Drive. Thus, to keep the ship's mass low and achieve that 50 ly jump range requires undersizing the core internals and eschewing utilities along with most modules suggested for exploration, including a Planetary Vehicle Hangar. While this does not mean the Courier should never be used for exploration, there are better ships to choose from for the role, such as the Diamondback Explorer.

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date Seen	Notes
HIP 5623	D'Arrest Ring	December 29, 2018
V374 Pegasi	MacKellar Hub	May 15, 2017	Cutter, Clipper and Eagle also here
Caspatsuria	Binney Dock	February 21, 2017
Kou Mantes	Espenak Port	February 9, 2017	61,342Ls from Arrival Point
Bediangu	Gent Orbital	February 8, 2017
Almad	Heinkel City	December 27, 2015
Manianscudo	Miller Port	December 27, 2015
Yaque	Hague Gateway	December 27, 2015
Xuanduna	De Lay Terminal	July 31, 2015
Summerland	Henry O'hare's Hanger	June 6, 2015
Kokobii	Bauman Station	July 20, 2015	Not Available, February 17, 2018
Tagoman	Brorsen Port	January 23, 2017
Murato	Tietjen Ring	June 6, 2015	Not always available
Biliri	Fan City	Dec 31, 2015
Dongzi	Penrose Ring	June 5, 2015
Kuwemargl	Baillaud Ring	June 6, 2015
Bielonti	Ahmed Dock	June 8, 2015
Pandemonium	Hirayama Port	June 9, 2015
Yen K'uie	Siddha Gateway	June 9, 2015	Not always available
Synteini	Both Major Stations	June 9, 2015
Njiri	Helin Dock	June 21, 2015
Miphifa	Happis	June 23, 2015
Buricasses	Walotsky Gateway	June 23, 2015
Kuparilda	O'Neill Port	July 1, 2015
Chona	Smoot Station	July 1, 2015	Not Available, January 4, 2016
Regir	Grushin Dock	July 3, 2015	Not available, December 1 2016
Hip 20277	Fabian City	July 6, 2015
Orang	Dilworth City	July 10, 2015
Facece	Peters Base	July 13, 2015	Requires System Permit
Vaka	Zenbei Oribital
Marrallang	Coggia Terminal	September 27, 2015
Kamocan	Danforth City	October 22, 2015
LTT 9810	Kerimov Dock	May 15, 2016
Baldr	Keldysh Gateway	May 20, 2017	15% Discount Not always available
Beta-1 Tucanae	Adams Orbital	December 4, 2015
CD-86 4	Cummings Dock	December 24, 2015
Misisture	Gelfand Dock	January 9, 2016
Wangal	Rothfuss Orbital	July 27th, 2017	10% discount. Cutter/Clipper/Courier/Eagle here too.
LTT 9156	Korolev Hub	February 6, 2016
HR 706	Wright Terminal	January 20, 2017	10% discount
Iado	Boscovich Terminal	January 21, 2017
Aonii	Jackson Port	January 23, 2017
Hollos	Bharadwaj Hub	January 25, 2017	No more Empire Ships, 10th December 17
Shinrarta Dezhra	Jameson Memorial	January 26, 2018	10% Discount, Founders Permit Needed
HIP 20277	Fabian City	April 10, 2018	Eagle/Courier/Clipper available
Sauraratec	Murakami Ring	April 26, 2018
Lampade	Ashman Dock	April 29, 2018	Cutter, Clipper, and Eagle also here
Sokolsci	Manarov Vision	June 16, 2018
Lampade	Charlois Dock	July 21, 2018	All Imperial ships available
Regira	Clayton Orbital	May 27, 2020	All Imperial ships available

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Imperial Courier.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Medium Hardpoint	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
	Empty	--	--	2
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	C	1	8
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	4	4
Thrusters Mounting	Thrusters	E	3	3
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive	E	3	3
Environment Control	Life Support	E	1	1
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	3	3
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	2	2
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [x8]	C	3	3
Internal Compartments	Cargo Rack [x4]	E	2	3
	Cargo Rack [x4]	E	2	3
	Shield Generator	E	2	2
	Cargo Rack [x2]	E	1	2
	Cargo Rack [x2]	E	1	2
	Empty	--	--	1
	Advanced Docking Computer	E	1	1
	Supercruise Assist	E	1	1
	Planetary Approach Suite (H)	I	1	1