Put Derelicts into stable orbit?

[feral quartz]

I'd like that, it really sucks to not be able to pick up the goodies.

But i think lore wise the idea of "stable orbit" does not exist in the rings - note how they sometimes tell you "oh a waypoint drifted away and now we do not know where it is".

[onyx gate]

Part of an astrogator's job is supposedly to predict this drift to be able to track waypoints over long timeframes, hence why better astrogators track waypoints for a longer time. A short-lived waypoint attached to a derelict could definitely make for an interesting incident generator for various things

Not sure if drones are the right call, though. And if a ship's manuever thrusters are functional, it could probably haul itself back to enc on its own

Maybe derelicts could be given some amount of velocity on spawn, and if you stop the derelict in any way possible, your astrogator crewmember will mark down the waypoint for 3 days or so and say something over comms like 'this ship should stay here for a few days, maybe we can come back and get it' if your ship leaves the area after stopping the derelict

[blissful tartan]

Nanodrones wouldn't work. Those things exert 1 kilonewton per individual drone before it's used up. A single small thruster exerts 200 kilonewtons at once. It would take far more than a ship would hold to significantly alter another ships course.

[onyx gate]

This is what I was thinking. Chunks range from a hundred or so kg to maybe 10 tons max? Just an empty k37 hull is already more than 30 tons on its own, before equipment

[blissful tartan]

And even with those 10 ton chunks, drones struggle. That’s why you just shouldn’t manipulate iron with drones and pick it up manually.