{"data":{"id":13441,"title":"Portfolio: Drake Interplanetary","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/13441-Portfolio-Drake-Interplanetary","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/13441","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/13441","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Portfolio","images":[{"id":1142,"name":"JP_drake_logo.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/uo7nbvg3fo8afr\/source\/JP_drake_logo.png","alt":"","size":592182,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2013-12-18T22:47:02+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1142","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1142\/similar"},{"id":1144,"name":"JP_Cutlass.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/7y6rk8nbo1xjir\/source\/JP_Cutlass.png","alt":"","size":1408357,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2013-12-18T22:47:11+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1144","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1144\/similar"},{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"}],"images_count":8,"translations":{"en_EN":"Any Citizen knows Drake Interplanetary: the cheesy billboards featuring impossibly plastic women with garish skin dye jobs leaning over the latest model starfighters, the newsvid headlines about frustrated investigations into their criminal ties, the not-quite-aerodynamic look of their silhouettes. The company\u2019s footprint is pervasive and unavoidable for anyone who enters space.\n\nThe Cutlass\nDrake\u2019s keystone design is the Drake Interplanetary AS-1 Cutlass. Incredibly inexpensive, Drake Cutlasses are used across the galaxy for thousands of different roles. From search and rescue ambulances to mining prospector conversions to short hop food transports, the modular nature of the Cutlass means it can be anything to anyone. But there\u2019s no denying the fact that it is best known as the vehicle of choice for those skirting the law \u2026 and those outright defying it. If piracy has a corporate face, it is Drake Interplanetary.\n\nThe Cutlass\u2019 beginnings aren\u2019t as sinister as its present status: it was initially developed to UEE specifications as a candidate for their 2845 \u201cvolksfighter\u201d specifications. The specs were for a low-cost configurable space fighter that could be constructed rapidly to outfit distant home defense squadrons in times of need. The Cutlass lost out in the bidding to the now-forgotten Wildcat, but the development team opted to re-appropriate the design for civilian use.\n\nThe Cutlass was a spectacular design, all things considered. It lacked the leather seats and silver highlights of an ORIGIN luxury spacecraft and the hard reliability of a Roberts Space Industries design, but it could be built quickly using materials common on nearly every inhabitable world for roughly a three-quarters the cost of any other comparable spacecraft. And for that, it was profoundly reliable: famous test vids show the prototype Cutlass fearlessly navigating a field of stellar debris.\n\nThe initial sales pitches went to private militia groups. UEE law allows (and some would say encourages) anyone, anywhere to own armed spacecraft, and so the plan was that private squadrons in more distant areas of the galaxy would welcome a low-cost spacecraft solution. Regions specifically classified high insurance risks, the Drake board reasoned, would especially welcome an easier way to replenish lost spacecraft.\n\nThey were right, or so it seemed. Sales were phenomenal. Within nine months, Drake had opened six offworld factories and had licensed dealerships in nine systems. In another year, the company had quadrupled again. Within five years they were the fifth largest spacecraft manufacturing concern and couldn\u2019t license subsystems manufacturers quickly enough. The company was lauded as a massive business success, credited in financial magazines as the little engine that could \u2014 finally a competitor that would change how companies like Roberts Space Industries and Musashi Industrial ran their businesses. From the numbers alone, it looked like everyone would be flying a Cutlass in ten years.\n\nIncorporation\nDrake Interplanetary incorporated soon after the successful release of the Cutlass to the public. Lead designer Jan Dredge became CEO, with a seven member board consisting largely of aerospace engineers who had worked on the project. Drake was not the surname of anyone involved in the project; it was selected as an acceptably \u201csmooth-sounding\u201d name, chosen specifically in the hopes that it would make their spacecraft more appealing. This was the first of a series of money-over-all decisions that would quickly come to define the company.\n\nA later decision was also telling: rather than expand onto one of the UEE\u2019s traditional \u201chomeworlds\u201d like Earth or Terra, Drake would come to base itself in the economically embattled system of Magnus. Basing both corporate governance and key factories on Borea (Magnus II), Drake\u2019s outlaw image became well established before the first Cutlass left the factory floor there.\n\nPartners in Crime?\nBy the turn of the 30th century, the galaxy was at peace, or as close to peace as it had ever been. Vanduul raids at the time were disorganized, brush wars on frontier colonies were limited in scope, and the UEE military was in the middle of a several year stand down. Who was buying thousands upon thousands of Cutlasses and what were they doing with them? As long as the star credits kept coming in, no one at Drake was especially interested.\n\nThe answer, of course, was outlaw organizations. As long as civilians have had access to the stars, piracy has flourished \u2026 and now, thanks to the affordable Cutlass, it had a new tool of choice. Smugglers and pirates, long cut off from the standard insurance system available to Citizens, had mostly been operating with obsolete discards and military surplus. Now, they had a readily replaceable spacecraft that fit their budget, and thanks to its larger-than-average cargo hold and extremely customizable nature, one that fit their needs exactly. An analysis found that Cutlasses were suddenly transporting narcotics, raiding cargo convoys and even daring to engage police patrols with increasing frequency. In time, the bulky, modular look of the Cutlass would even come to redefine pirates as much as pirates did the Cutlass, giving new life to a very old profession. Here is where the corporate account, which proclaims Drake\u2019s \u201castounding efforts to stop piracy\u201d and their \u201cdedication to making spacecraft available to all sentients,\u201d differs from reality. It has become clear, though wholly unacknowledged, that the company realized they had made a deal with the devil \u2026 and the money was too good to step back. Instead of restricting Cutlass sales to recognized military units, they began designing spacecraft with an increasingly piratical bent. The Caterpillar transport, for instance, mounted more tractor beams and heavy weapons than anything in the same class. Advertising became more obvious as well, with showroom model Cutlasses appearing in black stealth schemes and skull-and-crossbones logos (a \u201ctongue-in-cheek reference to the overblown controversy,\u201d corporate PR explained).\n\nThe Future\nWhat does the future hold for Drake? The rumor is that this year\u2019s models are all about streamlining \u2026 a daunting task for the modular, boxy Cutlass, Caterpillar and Buccaneer!\n\nCould ship models finally going for look and feel over affordability signal a move away from tacit approval of their use by illegal operators? A corporate representative is quick to point out that the company spent millions lobbying the UEE government for harsher anti-piracy laws \u2026 but the cynic can\u2019t help but realize that more anti-piracy forces dispatched to the outer worlds simply mean that the clans will need to buy increasingly larger numbers of Drake Interplanetary replacement spacecraft.","de_DE":"Jeder B\u00fcrger kennt Drake Interplanetary: die kitschigen Plakate mit unm\u00f6glich plastischen Frauen mit grellen Hautfarbenjobs, die sich \u00fcber die neuesten Modellstarfighter lehnen, die Newsvid-Schlagzeilen \u00fcber frustrierte Untersuchungen ihrer kriminellen Bande, den nicht ganz aerodynamischen Look ihrer Silhouetten. Der Fu\u00dfabdruck des Unternehmens ist allgegenw\u00e4rtig und f\u00fcr jeden, der den Raum betritt, unvermeidlich.\n\nDas Entermesser\nDrake's Schl\u00fcsselelement ist das Drake Interplanetarische AS-1 Entermesser. Unglaublich preiswert werden Drake Entermesser in der ganzen Galaxie f\u00fcr Tausende von verschiedenen Rollen eingesetzt. Von Such- und Rettungswagen \u00fcber die Umr\u00fcstung von Goldsuchern bis hin zu Kurz-Hopfen-Lebensmitteltransporten - der modulare Charakter des Entermessers macht es f\u00fcr jeden m\u00f6glich. Aber es ist unbestreitbar, dass es am besten bekannt ist als das Mittel der Wahl f\u00fcr diejenigen, die sich dem Gesetz entziehen.... und f\u00fcr diejenigen, die sich ihm geradezu widersetzen. Wenn Piraterie ein Firmengesicht hat, dann ist es Drake Interplanetary.\n\nDie Anf\u00e4nge des Entermessers sind nicht so finster wie sein heutiger Status: Er wurde urspr\u00fcnglich nach UEE-Spezifikationen entwickelt, als Kandidat f\u00fcr seine 2845 \"Volksfighter\"-Spezifikationen. Die Spezifikationen waren f\u00fcr einen kosteng\u00fcnstigen, konfigurierbaren Raumj\u00e4ger, der schnell gebaut werden konnte, um entfernte Home-Defense-Geschwader in Zeiten der Not auszustatten. Der Entermesser verlor in der Ausschreibung an die inzwischen vergessene Wildkatze, aber das Entwicklungsteam entschied sich daf\u00fcr, das Design f\u00fcr den zivilen Einsatz neu zu adaptieren.\n\nDer Entermesser war ein spektakul\u00e4res Design, alles in allem. Es fehlte an den Ledersitzen und silbernen Highlights eines URSPRUNGS-Luxus-Satelliten und der harten Zuverl\u00e4ssigkeit eines Roberts Space Industries-Designs, aber es konnte schnell aus Materialien gebaut werden, die auf fast jeder bewohnbaren Welt \u00fcblich sind, f\u00fcr etwa ein Dreiviertel der Kosten eines anderen vergleichbaren Raumfahrzeugs. Und daf\u00fcr war es \u00e4u\u00dferst zuverl\u00e4ssig: Ber\u00fchmte Testvideos zeigen, wie der Prototyp Entermesser furchtlos durch ein Feld von Sternenhimmel navigiert.\n\nDie ersten Verkaufsgespr\u00e4che gingen an private Milizgruppen. Das UEE-Gesetz erlaubt (und einige w\u00fcrden sagen, ermutigt) jeden, \u00fcberall, bewaffnete Raumschiffe zu besitzen, und so war der Plan, dass private Geschwader in weiter entfernten Gebieten der Galaxie eine kosteng\u00fcnstige Raumfahrzeugl\u00f6sung begr\u00fc\u00dfen w\u00fcrden. Regionen, die speziell als hohe Versicherungsrisiken eingestuft wurden, so die Begr\u00fcndung des Drake-Boards, w\u00fcrden eine einfachere M\u00f6glichkeit zur Wiederauff\u00fcllung verlorener Raumfahrzeuge besonders begr\u00fc\u00dfen.\n\nSie hatten Recht, wie es schien. Die Ums\u00e4tze waren ph\u00e4nomenal. Innerhalb von neun Monaten hatte Drake sechs au\u00dferweltliche Fabriken er\u00f6ffnet und H\u00e4ndler in neun Systemen lizenziert. In einem weiteren Jahr hatte sich das Unternehmen wieder vervierfacht. Innerhalb von f\u00fcnf Jahren waren sie der f\u00fcnftgr\u00f6\u00dfte Hersteller von Raumfahrzeugen und konnten Subsystemhersteller nicht schnell genug lizenzieren. Das Unternehmen wurde als massiver Gesch\u00e4ftserfolg gelobt, in den Finanzmagazinen als der kleine Motor, der es erm\u00f6glichte - schlie\u00dflich als Konkurrent, der die Art und Weise, wie Unternehmen wie Roberts Space Industries und Musashi Industrial ihr Gesch\u00e4ft f\u00fchrten, ver\u00e4ndern w\u00fcrde. Allein von den Zahlen her sah es so aus, als w\u00fcrde jeder in zehn Jahren einen Entermesser fliegen.\n\nUnternehmensgr\u00fcndung\nDrake Interplanetary wurde kurz nach der erfolgreichen Ver\u00f6ffentlichung des Entermessers in die \u00d6ffentlichkeit aufgenommen. Lead Designer Jan Dredge wurde CEO, mit einem siebenk\u00f6pfigen Vorstand, der haupts\u00e4chlich aus Luft- und Raumfahrtingenieuren bestand, die an dem Projekt gearbeitet hatten. Drake war nicht der Nachname von jemandem, der an dem Projekt beteiligt war; es wurde als ein akzeptabel \"weich klingender\" Name ausgew\u00e4hlt, der speziell in der Hoffnung gew\u00e4hlt wurde, dass er ihre Raumsonde attraktiver machen w\u00fcrde. Dies war die erste einer Reihe von Money-over-All-Entscheidungen, die schnell zu einer Definition des Unternehmens f\u00fchren w\u00fcrden.\n\nEine sp\u00e4tere Entscheidung war auch bezeichnend: Anstatt auf eine der traditionellen \"Heimatwelten\" der UEE wie Erde oder Terra auszudehnen, w\u00fcrde Drake sich im wirtschaftlich umk\u00e4mpften System des Magnus niederlassen. Drakes Outlaw-Image, das sowohl die Corporate Governance als auch die wichtigsten Fabriken auf Borea (Magnus II) st\u00fctzt, hat sich gut etabliert, bevor der erste Entermesser die dortige Fabrik verlie\u00df.\n\nPartner bei Verbrechen?\nUm die Wende des 30. Jahrhunderts war die Galaxie in Frieden, oder so nah am Frieden wie nie zuvor. Vanduul-Angriffe zu dieser Zeit waren desorganisiert, Pinselkriege gegen Grenzkolonien waren in ihrem Umfang begrenzt, und das UEE-Milit\u00e4r war mitten in einem mehrj\u00e4hrigen R\u00fcckzug. Wer kaufte Tausende und Abertausende von Entermessern und was machten sie mit ihnen? Solange der Star-Credits immer wieder kam, war niemand bei Drake besonders interessiert.\n\nDie Antwort war nat\u00fcrlich, Organisationen zu verbieten. Solange die Zivilbev\u00f6lkerung Zugang zu den Sternen hatte, hat sich die Piraterie entwickelt.... und jetzt, dank des erschwinglichen Entermessers, hatte sie ein neues Werkzeug der Wahl. Schmuggler und Piraten, die lange Zeit vom Standardversicherungssystem f\u00fcr die B\u00fcrger abgeschnitten waren, hatten meist mit veralteten R\u00fcckw\u00fcrfen und milit\u00e4rischen \u00dcbersch\u00fcssen gearbeitet. Jetzt hatten sie einen leicht austauschbaren Raumschiff, der zu ihrem Budget passte, und dank seines \u00fcberdurchschnittlich gro\u00dfen Laderaums und seiner extrem anpassbaren Natur einen, der genau ihren Bed\u00fcrfnissen entsprach. Eine Analyse ergab, dass Entermesser pl\u00f6tzlich Drogen transportierten, Frachtkonvois \u00fcberfielen und es sogar wagten, immer h\u00e4ufiger Polizeistreifen einzusetzen. Mit der Zeit w\u00fcrde der sperrige, modulare Look des Entermessers sogar dazu f\u00fchren, dass Piraten genauso wie Piraten den Entermesser neu definieren und einem sehr alten Beruf neues Leben einhauchen. Hier unterscheidet sich die Unternehmensbilanz, die Drakes \"erstaunliche Bem\u00fchungen zur Bek\u00e4mpfung der Piraterie\" und ihr \"Engagement, Raumschiffe f\u00fcr alle Empfindungen verf\u00fcgbar zu machen\", von der Realit\u00e4t. Es ist klar geworden, wenn auch v\u00f6llig unerkannt, dass die Firma erkannte, dass sie einen Deal mit dem Teufel gemacht hatte.... und das Geld war zu gut, um zur\u00fcckzutreten. Anstatt den Verkauf von Entermesser auf anerkannte milit\u00e4rische Einheiten zu beschr\u00e4nken, begannen sie, Raumschiffe mit einer zunehmend piratenhaften Neigung zu entwickeln. Der Caterpillar-Transport beispielsweise montierte mehr Traktortr\u00e4ger und schwere Waffen als alles andere in derselben Klasse. Auch die Werbung wurde immer offensichtlicher, da das Showroom-Modell Entermesser in schwarzen Tarnschemata und Skull-and-Crossbones-Logos auftauchten (ein \"augenzwinkernder Hinweis auf die \u00fcberzogene Kontroverse\", erkl\u00e4rte Corporate PR).\n\nDie Zukunft\nWie sieht die Zukunft f\u00fcr Drake aus? Das Ger\u00fccht ist, dass es bei den diesj\u00e4hrigen Modellen um die Rationalisierung geht.... eine gewaltige Aufgabe f\u00fcr den modularen, kastenf\u00f6rmigen Entermesser, die Raupe und den Freibeuter!\n\nK\u00f6nnten Schiffsmodelle, die sich endlich nach einem Look and Feel \u00fcber die Erschwinglichkeit begeben, einen Schritt weg von der stillschweigenden Genehmigung ihrer Verwendung durch illegale Betreiber signalisieren? Ein Unternehmensvertreter ist schnell dabei, darauf hinzuweisen, dass das Unternehmen Millionen damit verbracht hat, die UEE-Regierung f\u00fcr strengere Anti-Piraterie-Gesetze zu beeinflussen.... aber der Zyniker kann nicht anders, als zu erkennen, dass mehr Anti-Piraterie-Kr\u00e4fte, die in die Au\u00dfenwelt entsandt wurden, einfach bedeuten, dass die Clans immer gr\u00f6\u00dfere Mengen an Drake Interplanetaren Ersatz-Raumfahrzeugen kaufen m\u00fcssen.","zh_CN":"Any Citizen knows Drake Interplanetary: the cheesy billboards featuring impossibly plastic women with garish skin dye jobs leaning over the latest model starfighters, the newsvid headlines about frustrated investigations into their criminal ties, the not-quite-aerodynamic look of their silhouettes. The company\u2019s footprint is pervasive and unavoidable for anyone who enters space.\n\nThe Cutlass\nDrake\u2019s keystone design is the Drake Interplanetary AS-1 Cutlass. Incredibly inexpensive, Drake Cutlasses are used across the galaxy for thousands of different roles. From search and rescue ambulances to mining prospector conversions to short hop food transports, the modular nature of the Cutlass means it can be anything to anyone. But there\u2019s no denying the fact that it is best known as the vehicle of choice for those skirting the law \u2026 and those outright defying it. If piracy has a corporate face, it is Drake Interplanetary.\n\nThe Cutlass\u2019 beginnings aren\u2019t as sinister as its present status: it was initially developed to UEE specifications as a candidate for their 2845 \u201cvolksfighter\u201d specifications. The specs were for a low-cost configurable space fighter that could be constructed rapidly to outfit distant home defense squadrons in times of need. The Cutlass lost out in the bidding to the now-forgotten Wildcat, but the development team opted to re-appropriate the design for civilian use.\n\nThe Cutlass was a spectacular design, all things considered. It lacked the leather seats and silver highlights of an ORIGIN luxury spacecraft and the hard reliability of a Roberts Space Industries design, but it could be built quickly using materials common on nearly every inhabitable world for roughly a three-quarters the cost of any other comparable spacecraft. And for that, it was profoundly reliable: famous test vids show the prototype Cutlass fearlessly navigating a field of stellar debris.\n\nThe initial sales pitches went to private militia groups. UEE law allows (and some would say encourages) anyone, anywhere to own armed spacecraft, and so the plan was that private squadrons in more distant areas of the galaxy would welcome a low-cost spacecraft solution. Regions specifically classified high insurance risks, the Drake board reasoned, would especially welcome an easier way to replenish lost spacecraft.\n\nThey were right, or so it seemed. Sales were phenomenal. Within nine months, Drake had opened six offworld factories and had licensed dealerships in nine systems. In another year, the company had quadrupled again. Within five years they were the fifth largest spacecraft manufacturing concern and couldn\u2019t license subsystems manufacturers quickly enough. The company was lauded as a massive business success, credited in financial magazines as the little engine that could \u2014 finally a competitor that would change how companies like Roberts Space Industries and Musashi Industrial ran their businesses. From the numbers alone, it looked like everyone would be flying a Cutlass in ten years.\n\nIncorporation\nDrake Interplanetary incorporated soon after the successful release of the Cutlass to the public. Lead designer Jan Dredge became CEO, with a seven member board consisting largely of aerospace engineers who had worked on the project. Drake was not the surname of anyone involved in the project; it was selected as an acceptably \u201csmooth-sounding\u201d name, chosen specifically in the hopes that it would make their spacecraft more appealing. This was the first of a series of money-over-all decisions that would quickly come to define the company.\n\nA later decision was also telling: rather than expand onto one of the UEE\u2019s traditional \u201chomeworlds\u201d like Earth or Terra, Drake would come to base itself in the economically embattled system of Magnus. Basing both corporate governance and key factories on Borea (Magnus II), Drake\u2019s outlaw image became well established before the first Cutlass left the factory floor there.\n\nPartners in Crime?\nBy the turn of the 30th century, the galaxy was at peace, or as close to peace as it had ever been. Vanduul raids at the time were disorganized, brush wars on frontier colonies were limited in scope, and the UEE military was in the middle of a several year stand down. Who was buying thousands upon thousands of Cutlasses and what were they doing with them? As long as the star credits kept coming in, no one at Drake was especially interested.\n\nThe answer, of course, was outlaw organizations. As long as civilians have had access to the stars, piracy has flourished \u2026 and now, thanks to the affordable Cutlass, it had a new tool of choice. Smugglers and pirates, long cut off from the standard insurance system available to Citizens, had mostly been operating with obsolete discards and military surplus. Now, they had a readily replaceable spacecraft that fit their budget, and thanks to its larger-than-average cargo hold and extremely customizable nature, one that fit their needs exactly. An analysis found that Cutlasses were suddenly transporting narcotics, raiding cargo convoys and even daring to engage police patrols with increasing frequency. In time, the bulky, modular look of the Cutlass would even come to redefine pirates as much as pirates did the Cutlass, giving new life to a very old profession. Here is where the corporate account, which proclaims Drake\u2019s \u201castounding efforts to stop piracy\u201d and their \u201cdedication to making spacecraft available to all sentients,\u201d differs from reality. It has become clear, though wholly unacknowledged, that the company realized they had made a deal with the devil \u2026 and the money was too good to step back. Instead of restricting Cutlass sales to recognized military units, they began designing spacecraft with an increasingly piratical bent. The Caterpillar transport, for instance, mounted more tractor beams and heavy weapons than anything in the same class. Advertising became more obvious as well, with showroom model Cutlasses appearing in black stealth schemes and skull-and-crossbones logos (a \u201ctongue-in-cheek reference to the overblown controversy,\u201d corporate PR explained).\n\nThe Future\nWhat does the future hold for Drake? The rumor is that this year\u2019s models are all about streamlining \u2026 a daunting task for the modular, boxy Cutlass, Caterpillar and Buccaneer!\n\nCould ship models finally going for look and feel over affordability signal a move away from tacit approval of their use by illegal operators? A corporate representative is quick to point out that the company spent millions lobbying the UEE government for harsher anti-piracy laws \u2026 but the cynic can\u2019t help but realize that more anti-piracy forces dispatched to the outer worlds simply mean that the clans will need to buy increasingly larger numbers of Drake Interplanetary replacement spacecraft."},"links_count":0,"comment_count":95,"created_at":"2014-01-08T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"12 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 23:58:47","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":13440,"next_id":13442}}