Space Age Prospector is the shakedown flight for the Fortunate, and it is about as gentle as a mission gets. One objective, no combat, nothing to chase down: mine 100 Parsteel and it closes. Warp 1 covers both taking the mission and finishing it, and the payout is 20 1★ Survey Parts plus 30 Ship XP. Treat it as the game handing you a survey ship and asking you to use it once.
Space Age Prospector objectives
One objective, and it is exactly what the ship was built for.
- Mine 100 Parsteel.
There is no choice split, no second step, and no enemy to clear. The mission exists to put the Fortunate on a Parsteel node and let the counter run. Once 100 Parsteel is mined, the objective ticks over and the rewards land.
Wo und welcher Warp
Warp 1 to start, warp 1 to complete. That is the floor, which means range is never the obstacle here. Any ship you own at this point in the game can reach where this mission wants you, and no warp research is needed before you accept it.
What matters more than distance is having the Fortunate available. It is a survey hull, the type built for hauling resources rather than trading fire, and this mission is written as its test run. If the ship is out on another job or sitting damaged in dock, the objective simply waits until you free it up.
Space Age Prospector rewards
20 1★ Survey Parts and 30 Ship XP.
The survey parts are the useful half. Ship parts are what the shipyard consumes when you build and upgrade hulls, and 1★ parts are the tier the earliest survey ships run on, so this drop goes straight back into the ship you just flew. Nothing here expires, and there is no reason to hold the parts back for later.
The 30 Ship XP is small on its own. Ship XP raises the level of the ship you are flying, and a level or two on an early survey hull is worth a little more cargo and a little more durability on the next run. It adds up across the early mission line rather than in one drop.
Tips
Fly the Fortunate for this one. The mission is written around the survey ship, and survey hulls are the ones that mine at any useful speed. Sending a combat ship to a node is slow work and defeats the point of the exercise.
Pick a node you can leave alone. Mining runs on a timer rather than on your attention, so the practical move is to send the ship out, close the game, and come back to a finished objective. There is no bonus for watching it.
Watch your cargo space. A survey ship stops filling once the hold is full, and 100 Parsteel is the number the mission counts, so check that the ship has room before you send it rather than after.
Do not fly it into a fight. Nothing about this mission asks for combat, and a survey ship parked on a node in an open system is a soft target for other players. Early systems are usually quiet, but a damaged Fortunate means dock time you did not plan for.
Spend the survey parts on the survey line. Twenty 1★ parts is a modest amount, and it is worth the most where it was designed to go, into the survey hull that mines for you. Holding low tier parts back for a ship you have not unlocked yet just leaves them idle.
