Type-10

Lore & Background

The Type-10 was never designed to be impressive. In the shipyards of the outer colonies, it was the workhorse of dock workers, cargo runners, and pilots who needed to cross a system without breaking the bank. Its hull is thin, its avionics are utilitarian, and its single hardpoint is the kind of mount you bolt a basic laser or a small missile rack onto and call it a day. There is no luxury here, no gilded cockpit, no AI co-pilot murmuring encouragement. There is a seat, a stick, and the cold starfield beyond the canopy.

In Their Own Story

The docking bay at Kowalski's Outpost smelled of recycled air and burnt coolant. Mara pulled the Type-10 alongside the fueling arm, the little ship groaning as its landing struts compressed. One hardpoint. One seat. One very tired pilot. She checked the fuel gauge—enough for two jumps, maybe three if she was careful—and wiped a streak of grease from her cheek. The manifest on her tablet listed four tonnes of medical supplies bound for a colony that hadn't seen a doctor in eleven months. No escort. No backup. Just the Type-10, the long dark between stars, and the stubborn belief that four tonnes of antibiotics was worth the risk. She engaged the jump drive, and the universe folded shut behind her like a book.

Reader's Guide

The Type-10 sits at the very base of the small-ship tech tree in Elite Dangerous. It is a single-seat, one-hardpoint vessel with minimal internal module slots, a small fuel tank, and a very low mass rating. Because it is so light, it accelerates quickly in a vacuum and is easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces like station corridors or asteroid fields, but its thin shielding means even a single well-placed hit can be devastating. The one small hardpoint can accept a basic laser, a missile launcher, or a small beam weapon, giving the pilot a single line of attack with no redundancy. It fits no crew, no co-pilot, and no passenger seats—everything is done by the pilot alone. In terms of playstyle, the Type-10 rewards a cautious, hit-and-fade approach: you cannot sustain a fight, so you must avoid one. It is ideal for short-haul courier runs, quiet exploration of nearby systems, or as a temporary stopgap while you save for a more capable hull. The low mass also means it is cheap to refuel and cheap to repair, making it forgiving for a pilot still learning the mechanics of jump-fuel management and shield recovery. Think of it as the training wheels of the small-ship category: once you outgrow it, you will miss the simplicity, but you will not go back.

Did You Know?

• The Type-10 is one of the cheapest ships available in the game, making it a common first purchase for brand-new pilots who have just arrived in the galaxy with a modest starting credit balance.
• Despite its humble specs, the Type-10's very low mass gives it a surprisingly snappy handling profile in a vacuum, which some pilots exploit for tight station-docking manoeuvres.
• Because it has only one hardpoint and no internal weapons slots beyond the basics, the Type-10 cannot be meaningfully upgraded into a combat platform—its design philosophy is strictly utility.
• In the community, the Type-10 is affectionately nicknamed as the ship that 'teaches you the universe's first lesson: respect the void, or the void will respect you back.'