Scrappers

Scrappers (otherwise known as vultures, especially among themselves) are workers tasked with salvaging materials from abandoned derelicts and decommissioned space infrastructure, cleaning up space junk and clearing debris from accidents and combat.

Career

Qualifications

-Spacewalk certification
-0G living clearance
-Good vision
-6 months of supervised training

Payment & Reimbursement

Scrapping is among the most lucrative of all extraplanetary industrial professions--in no small part due to the influence of well-established unions such as the Black Buzzard Collective--with scrappers collecting a varying percentage of the value of all useable materials they salvage, a commission for the removal/relocation of useless materials, as well as significant hazard pay. The exact arrangement and benefits vary from company to company, but it is, by the standards of work beyond the Belt, unusually fair in its pay--if not necessarily its upfront costs or working conditions.

Perception

Purpose

Scrappers keep outer space navigable, preventing collisions or damage to space stations and satellites, and provide raw and manufactured materials and components--including some very rare and/or limited resources--for industry.

Social Status

Despite its importance and the high skill level required, scrapping confers very little status outside of blue collar circles, and is viewed as a lower class occupation.

Operations

Tools

-High mobility extra-atmospheric EVA suits
-Sidewinder® modular personal thruster pack 
-High precision plasma torch
-Handheld laser cutter
-Python® multi-duty 0G tether & winch system

Materials

-Oxygen tanks
-Plasma torch fuel cartridges
-EVA thruster fuel tanks
-Laser cutter rechargeable batteries (as backups, and for operation in areas with insufficient solar radiation to maintain adequate power levels with the integrated solar panels alone)
-Winch reserve batteries (or operation in areas with insufficient solar radiation to maintain adequate power levels with the integrated solar panels alone)
-Daily rations

Dangers & Hazards

The hazards of scrapping are too numerous to list, everything from decompression sickness, asphyxiation, abyss anxiety, immolation, electrocution, explosions and radiation are common to the profession. According to the Black Buzzard Collective's most recent annual Scrapper's Workplace Hazard Report, 68% of scrappers received at least one workplace injury during the last work year, 31% were grievously injured, and a whopping 16%--not included in the injury statistics--died on the job.

Alternative Names

Vultures

Type

Industrial

Demand

High

Legality

Scrapping is legal, though the ownership of derelicts and space junk can be a tricky legal matter, and many scrappers have wound up taking the fallout of their employer's illegal decisions. It is also not entirely unheard of for people to scrap derelicts and space junk independently and for their own personal gain--something which is illegal, but challenging to crack down on, and supported by just about everyone except corporations in the scrapping business.

Related Vehicles

• CIV Longshot