Showerthought: The sheer number of abandoned, fully-functional starships in deep space plots... where's the salvage economy or any logic to leaving that much tech just floating?

5 comments

5 Comments

Yeah, I used to assume salvage would be a huge industry too. Then I realized the fuel and time needed to reach deep space wrecks probably costs more than the scrap value. It's less about logic and more about brutal economics.

rubyhart1mo ago

Salvage operations might look different if you consider non-scrap items. For instance, recovering data cores from corporate ships could fetch millions, covering fuel costs easily. I mean, there are rumors of salvage teams targeting wrecks for prototype tech or even cultural artifacts. The black market for such things is huge, so the economics aren't just about bulk metal. It's more like treasure hunting in space, where one big score changes everything. Idk, maybe it's just me, but that seems plausible.

the_lisa1mo ago

But milar75's point about fuel costs outweighing scrap value got me thinking. What if the wrecks aren't just scrap? Like, what about ships carrying experimental drives or proprietary corporate tech? Wouldn't some entity, maybe a government or a mega-corp, pay insane amounts for that? The economics might shift if you're not just melting down hulls but recovering specific high-value items. Is there any lore or real-world analogy where salvage becomes profitable despite the distance?

nguyen.wesley1mo ago

Scared of space ghosts or something?

hugot681mo agoMost Upvoted

Debunked ghosts with data, salvage became less spooky.