Arrastra - Standalone Ship

RSI Arrastra Standalone Ship Gameplay Guide

The RSI Arrastra is a deep-space mining and refining ship built for Star Citizen players who want large-scale industrial gameplay without stepping all the way into capital mining platforms like the Orion. Designed by Roberts Space Industries, the Arrastra is not a simple solo miner or basic cargo hauler. It is a dedicated multi-crew mining vessel created to extract, refine, store, and support industrial operations directly in the field.

Unlike the Prospector, which focuses on solo mining, or the MOLE, which supports smaller group mining sessions, the Arrastra is designed for more serious resource operations. Its remote mining lasers, onboard refinery, vehicle bay, tractor beam support, and crew living areas make it one of the more complete mining platforms for players who want mining to become a full gameplay loop rather than a quick resource run.

Arrastra Key Specifications

The Arrastra combines heavy mining tools with onboard refining and field support. Its specifications show why it is valued not as a solo miner, but as a multi-crew industrial platform for longer mining operations and organization-level resource planning.

Note: The Arrastra is a concept ship, and Star Citizen ship specifications are subject to balance and design changes by Cloud Imperium Games. Treat all figures as gameplay-reference information rather than final permanent values.

What Makes the Arrastra Valuable?

The Arrastra is valuable because it fills a useful gap in Star Citizen’s mining lineup. The Prospector is excellent for solo mining, and the MOLE is strong for practical multi-crew mining, but both still rely heavily on outside refining and logistics. The Orion goes much larger, but its capital-scale size makes it less practical for many smaller groups.

The Arrastra sits in the middle. It gives players a heavier mining platform with onboard refining, stronger mining lasers, vehicle support, and enough crew gameplay to feel like a real industrial ship. For many players, that makes it more realistic to use regularly than the Orion while still feeling like a major upgrade from the MOLE.

Its onboard refinery is one of the biggest reasons players value it. Instead of only mining raw ore and returning to a station, the Arrastra is designed to process material in the field. This can make mining operations feel more complete, especially for organizations that want to control more of the resource chain themselves.

Deep-Space Mining Role

In gameplay, the Arrastra performs best as a planned industrial mining ship. It is not designed for quick solo runs where one player scans a rock, breaks it, and leaves. Its strength comes from taking a crew into a mining area, extracting valuable resources, refining them onboard, and continuing the operation with fewer interruptions.

The ship’s three remote mining lasers give it stronger mining coverage than smaller ships. Official Q&A describes the Arrastra as sitting between the MOLE and Orion, with larger lasers capable of cracking harder rocks at greater distances than the MOLE. This makes it especially attractive for players who want stronger mining capability without waiting for or managing a full capital mining platform.

The Arrastra also has value beyond asteroid mining. With dedicated VTOL capability and a vehicle bay that can carry two ROC-DS or Ursa-sized vehicles, it can support planetary mining and surface operations more naturally than an Orion-style deep-space platform.

Onboard Refinery Gameplay

The Arrastra’s onboard refinery is one of its defining features. Instead of treating mining and refining as separate steps handled entirely at stations, the Arrastra brings refining into the ship itself. This allows a crew to process mined resources during longer operations and make better use of its available storage.

Official Q&A explains that the Arrastra has two refinery reactors, allowing it to run two separate refining orders at the same time. It can also accept ore bags from a Prospector or MOLE and refine those materials, which gives the Arrastra useful support value for a larger mining fleet.

However, it should not be misunderstood as a fuel-generation ship. The Arrastra can refine Quantanium as a commodity, but official Q&A states it cannot feed that refined material back into its own fuel tanks. This means its refinery value is mainly economic and industrial, not self-refueling exploration utility.

Multi-Crew Industrial Gameplay

The Arrastra is designed for multi-crew mining. A solo owner may like it as a long-term fleet goal, but its strongest value comes from a crew working together.

A practical Arrastra operation would usually start with one pilot, two mining laser operators, one player watching refinery orders, and one crew member helping with tractor work, cargo flow, vehicle deployment, or scanning. With only one player, the Arrastra may still work as a long-term mining goal, but most of its real value comes from having a crew manage extraction, refining, storage, surface support, and return logistics during a longer mining run.

A full Arrastra crew may also include a pilot, mining laser operators, refinery manager, tractor operator, vehicle team, and support crew. This creates a much deeper industrial gameplay loop than smaller mining ships. Instead of one person doing everything, each player can contribute to scanning, mining, refining, logistics, or surface support.

This is why the Arrastra is especially attractive for mining organizations and small industrial groups. It gives several players meaningful jobs while staying smaller and more manageable than the Orion. For players who want mining nights, resource events, or long-session industrial gameplay, the Arrastra has a clear mining identity.

Arrastra vs Other Star Citizen Mining Ships

The Arrastra occupies a very specific position among Star Citizen industrial ships. It is more complete than the MOLE, more practical than the Orion for smaller groups, and more mining-focused than modular ships like the Galaxy.

Arrastra vs MOLE

The MOLE is easier to use for smaller mining crews and regular group mining sessions. The Arrastra is larger and more complete, adding onboard refining, stronger mining lasers, vehicle support, and external storage racks. If you want a practical multi-crew miner for current-style mining gameplay, the MOLE is simpler. If you want a heavier mining-and-refining platform for future industrial operations, the Arrastra has the stronger role.

Arrastra vs Orion

The Orion is the larger capital mining platform, built for organization-level industrial extraction at a much bigger scale. The Arrastra is smaller, easier to imagine using regularly, and positioned between the MOLE and Orion. If you want the largest mining platform possible, the Orion is the bigger long-term goal. If you want a heavy industrial ship that feels more manageable for smaller crews, the Arrastra is the better fit.

Arrastra vs Prospector

The Prospector is the better choice for solo mining and quick resource runs. The Arrastra is built for multi-crew mining, onboard refining, vehicle support, and longer industrial operations. If you mainly mine alone, the Prospector is more practical. If you want mining to become a group activity with refining and logistics built into the ship, the Arrastra is the stronger upgrade path.

Arrastra Strengths and Limitations

Who Should Buy the Arrastra?

The Arrastra is best for players who want mining to become a serious long-term profession in Star Citizen. It is especially suitable for mining crews, industrial organizations, resource-focused players, and groups that want a ship more capable than the MOLE but more practical than the Orion.

It is also a strong option for players who want to build a mining fleet around multiple ships. A Prospector or MOLE can gather ore, while the Arrastra can support heavier extraction and field refining. This makes it useful not only as a mining ship, but also as a central industrial platform for group operations.

Players who mainly want immediate gameplay, casual solo mining, combat, or cargo trading may find the Arrastra too specialized and too future-dependent. But for players building around mining, refining, and resource control, the Arrastra remains one of the more interesting industrial concept ships in Star Citizen.

Arrastra FAQ