I'm working on an idea for a bulk space freighter. This is very much a work in progress but I thought I would share. I got the idea of this freighter's design from my gaming dice. I had a bunch of d6s in a row and when I placed the d4 at the front, I thought that would make a good freighter layout and that idea is slowing coming into place.

The cargo compartments are loaded into the freighter by tug shuttles in orbit. There are four rows of cargo compartments(top, sides, and bottom). That 60 compartments total. The compartments are also modular so additional compartments can be added creating an additional ring of cargo space.

I'm currently working on the fuel shielding area at the back of the ship. I still need to add the engines and do the command area. The ship carries a minimal crew and most decisions are taken by the ship's computer. The crew are back up should anything goes wrong. The light blue area on the ship represents areas without gravity. The cargo in the compartments are either locked into the walls with some type of lock or perhaps it uses netting to keep cargo from shifting in the zero-G atmosphere.

Version 1:
Click image for larger version. 

Name:	atlas-freighter-v1.jpg 
Views:	430 
Size:	510.6 KB 
ID:	18882