Frost Venture

The Frost Venture-class approaches frozen resources the way the Federation approaches everything: as a supply chain problem. The ship's tractor systems carve entire ice bodies free from asteroid fields and secure them in the cavernous cargo bay for transport to processing facilities. Why refine in the field when station-side facilities do it better? Nine hundred sixty cargo capacity carries ice in bulk — whole chunks, minimally processed, maximum volume. The cryo-containment systems maintain cargo at extraction temperature, preventing melt loss that the Federation considers an unacceptable hit to the profit margin.