Venture-class probe

The Venture-class probe is the most commonly-used unmanned spacecraft. Whether they are launched from a capital ship, space station, or even from the surface of a planet, their function is the same: observe and transmit.

Their primary function is to maneuver to a destination and perform a set of scans. That data is encoded and transmitted back to whatever organization launched the probe.

In order to keep its mission-profile as diverse as possible, the Venture is constructed out of a set of modular components, allowing it to be customized for a variety of functions and obstacles. These modules include computer, transmitter, engine, maneuvering thrusters, atmosphere shield, landing legs, surface sampler, sensor suite, extended fuel tank, sensor mask, among many others. This has lead shipwrights to call it the "build-a-rocket"

Probes are most commonly used for military reconnaissance, planetary survey, or the study of spaceborn anomalies. Probes are not normally designed for a return-trip, and those that have been recovered are often barely functioning, since the modular design results in numerous points of failure.