This unmanned spacecraft is of a fairly typical type that has seen use since the late 21st century with only minor modifications. Interplanetary Metal Delivery Vehicles are simple almond shaped craft assembled by orbital mining stations usually out of steel or ceramic with a heat resistant ceramic underlayer and packed with metal ingots (generally fairly common ones) secured down. Once completed and inspected, a pair of spacecraft latches onto it and accelerates it along a ballistic course to a habitable planet at comparitively low speeds. Since it's course can be accurately calculated beforehand, it's RCS systems are there only in case of emergencies and to make small corrections. Once there it skims the edge of it's atmosphere in several elliptical orbits, loosing Delta V as it does so before making it's final entry to the atmosphere, aerobreaking away it's remaining Delta V before making a splashdown in a designated oceanic region, skidding to a halt on the planet's surface. Once that has been done, the craft has completed it's mobile existence and simply floats along, taking in some of the local atmosphere to equalize pressure inside and out. Floating along in the ocean, the craft is collected by tugboats which pull it to an industrial port. The craft is then unloaded of it's cargo and usually is broken down shortly afterwards for scrap, though it is not unknown for IMDV hulls to be stripped of their wings and used as large scale pontoons in various marine engineering projects, be modified into oceanic vessels after extreme refit, be used as low cost housing or other such purposes.





