Processed cargo is a form of storing ore on the ship. It requires an MPU to process ore chunks into a powdered form, being considerably more versatile, however the conversion to a processed forms in the rings will cause some losses compared to that at Enceladus, but may allow for some remass reclamation from most MPU models, which processes part of the water content of an ore chunk to be put back into the propellant tank of the ship.
Each ship has a limit to the internal processed cargo capacity on a per-ore basis, listed here:
| KTA24 TNTRL | 3 tonnes |
| Runasimi KR37 TNTRL | 4 tonnes |
| K37 TNTRL | 7 tonnes |
| Antonoff-Titan K225 | 7 tonnes |
| Antonoff-Titan K225-BB | 7 tonnes |
| Antonoff-Titan K225 (Modified) | 7 tonnes |
| KX37 TNTRL | 10 tonnes |
| Elon Interstellar Model E | 11 tonnes |
|---|---|
| K44 MHFTR Prototype | 14 tonnes |
| Eagle Prospector | 14 tonnes |
| Peacock Prospector | 14 tonnes |
| Pelican Prospector | 14 tonnes |
| Vulture Prospector | 14 tonnes |
| Bald Eagle | 14 tonnes |
| Cothon-212 | 27 tonnes |
| Cothon-211 "Chonker" | 27 tonnes |
| Cothon-213 "Triplet" | 27 tonnes |
Ships with variable storage behave differently to the split processed bays of other ships, where the total storage capacity is shared between all ore types.
| ND-LIS Kitsune | 18 tonnes |
|---|---|
| OCP-209 | 50 tonnes |
| Cothon-217 "Bender" | 108 tonnes |
Obtaining
The following requirements must be met for an ore chunk to be processed and put into storage:
- An MPU must be installed and enabled in OMS (enabled by default)
- The ore chunk must be within the bounds of the MPU's processing area
- There must be sufficient power to the MPU
- There must be free space for the processed cargo hold in either internal storage or in a THICC
- an ore chunk will still process regardless, but once the container is full the rest will be vented into space for every chunk processed above the limit
- to avoid over-processing an ore chunk, you can disable the MPU in the OMS menu
Once an ore chunk is processed, the chunk will vanish from the cargo bay, and part of the mass is inserted into the internal hold.
General Usage
Processed ore can have several uses besides being sellable at Enceladus.
- Saving cargo bay volume
- Selling to Obonto Habitats in need of specific ores, will pay premium prices considerably greater than at Enceladus
- Producing mass driver ammunition and nanodrone components on the fly using the Voyager RSLS Fabrication Plant
THICCs and THIMCCs
Processed cargo can be stored externally on a side hardpoint using cargo containers. A standard container allows for an additional 15 tonnes of storage of each mineral, and a mono container permits 90 tonnes of storage of a specific mineral, being the first to enter based on what's permitted on the geologist menu. All cargo containers hold a 500 kg buffer of minerals in the internal storage before storing within the container, where both are marked in an C+I format, where C is the total content for that mineral across all containers, and I is the internally stored amount.
THICCs, being cradled equipment, can be released and hailed by pressing the respective hotkey, or disabling them in OMS. The hail options allow you to send it back to Enceladus, keep with your ship, keep in it's position, or return to the cradle. Releasing them will reduce the mass of your ship, and may cause an imbalance by doing so or stop any imbalances that were happening because of it,
Note an empty cradle is able to capture other objects that you may find in the rings once re-enabled (lifepods, other THICCs, rogue drones, etc.)