Methods Of Refueling Torchships....

[Spacescifi]

Let's assume you have a torchship that specifically requires water to even operate like a torchship (other propellants won't give the same performance due to the scifi nature of the drive the ship uses).

What ways could you refuel it it?

I will list a few and you may expound upon or add to this.

1. Scooping ice into an open cargo bay by flying through Saturn's rings. Use cargo bay bots to haul the ice into a processor which melts it and separates water from minerals. The minerals you can chuck back into space unless you want them. This is fairly easy... but the distance is the only real challenge.

2. Have refuel depots on worlds or moons with abundant ice. Torchship water tanks would SSTO to orbit and dock and refuel an orbiting torchship. Then another Torchship tank would be sent to grab the near empty one to bring it back to the depot.

3. Try and find a comet or icy asteroid. Processing it will be harder due to all the rubble.

Interestingly... places with little or no water would have a much smaller if any manned presence at all. Unless a fleet of water tank torchships are sent ahead in advance to orbit them for spacehips to dock with later.

So I guess I learned something new. You other boldly go into the unknown looking for Saturn-like rings for any easy refuel, or you sent an entire fleet of water tank torchships to a place with no water.

The second option is far more expensive since you may not recover the water tank torchships, and even if you did it would be a long and expensive process.

 

So in conclusion if you have torchships... refuel depots and Saturn's rings are the easiest ways to refuel.... but Saturn is so far away. Asteroids and comets may be closer but are harder to process the water due to all the rubble.

 

So while we poop waste, a torchship finished processing water from a comet or asteroid is going to be 'pooping' minerals and rock debris that it does not need or want.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Spacescifi