DCS light freighter

Light freighters are interstellar cargo vessels employed by the UNSC Department of Commercial Shipping. They make up a large portion of the commercial fleet maintained by the DCS.

Design details
The vessels consist of a large cargo container attached magnetically to a propulsion pod which contains a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine and hydrazine rockets for subluminal maneuvering. The container features a heating unit maintained by a small nuclear reactor, and a maser communication system. These freighters are mostly automated, and human crews are a rarity. Still, the containers are equipped with control cabins which can be accessed by an elevator on the side of the hull. The freighters' on-board computers are also routinely used to deliver mail between colonies. The containers are fairly large; though most often filled by cargo, they are able to fit roughly 1,000 people.

These containers can travel up and down space elevator strands as well as planetary MagLev train systems, allowing for fast loading and management of cargo. Once on top of the elevator, the propulsion pod is attached to the container, effectively turning it into a slipspace-capable freighter in less than thirty seconds. A colonial high-capacity space tether system such as Harvest's Tiara can have dozens of propulsion pods and cargo containers operational at a time, all managed by a shipping operations AI.

These freighters were used by the survivors of the First Battle of Harvest as they escaped the Covenant attack.

Known light freighters

 * Bulk Discount
 * Contents Under Pressure
 * Horn of Plenty
 * This End Up
 * Wholesale Price

List of appearances

 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Contact Harvest