> It seems to me that it might be more cost-effective for the planet to > simply contract techs off-world, buy the materials for the start-up of as many > minifacs as the planet wants. and charter a large transport to bring them > all to the world. > > The tranport off-loads the tech and equipment and leaves. The techs live > on the planet, first setting up the minifacs, then operating them. They also > train locals to run and repair the minifacs. When the techs' contract end, > they get passage to the world(s) they came from. The locals fully take > over operation of the minifacs. A small number of tech might be contracted to > stay behind "just in case" and there may also be periodic visits by > off-world techs to provide special maintainence or update the equipment.
All other things being equal, the mobile factory should be more expensive per unit of capacity than a fixed factory. And on a prospering colony, demand will stay high. So maybe the factory ship builds the first nanofactories. > If such an operation is illegal (I could see this in Star Wars, where the > Empire wants to keep a world low-tech so it can better exploit (eg, steal) > planetary resources), then the mobile factory is a better choice. > > Brandon If it is illegal, what about smaller mobile factories on stock light freighters? That way, they don't draw the personal attention of guys named Vader. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
