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AAM Tern Mk. I

Tern SSTO Personal Transport

Specifications
Manufacturer: Ariel Aerospace Manufacturing
Mass: 22,283 kg (Base model)
Powerplant: MW (10 small reactors, 1 battery)
Gyroscopes: 2
Armament: NA
Industrial Equipment: NA
Cargo Capacity: no dedicated cargo capacity (connector/cockpit storage available)
Refinery Facilities: NA
Assembler Facilities: NA
Medical Facilities: NA
Artificial Gravity: NA
Small Craft Complement: NA
Length: 9.5 meters
Width: 5.5 meters
Height: 3 meters

"From the surface to the stars -- at a stellar price!"
- Tern series tagline

"Looks more like a sanderling to me."
- Bernard Yakimura, AAM CEO

At the furthest extreme of AAM's aerospace craft are the massive heavy lifters -- ships like the Hyperion and the Atlas, ships that can ferry all the components needed to build a corvette from surface to orbit in a single journey.

At the other extreme is the Tern, which would comfortable fit in an engine of one of those titans.

The Tern is AAM's smallest single-stage-to-orbit vessel to date. Measuring less than ten meters long, the ship has only one function: move one person and their personal items from A to B -- quickly, quietly, and efficiently. To do this, it uses turbine engines to gain sufficient altitude that its ion engines can take effect, then uses those to boost beyond the atmosphere. As with the Eider, the vessel requires no hydrogen; and, again like the Eider, its network of small reactors requires a supply of uranium.

The Tern has no dedicated cargo space, and AAM delicately describes attempts to convert the craft to a cargo-carrying vessel as "inadvisable." Whether this is from genuine concern that the Tern's small engine array will be incapable of lifting much more than the pilot into space, or an attempt to make customers buy the more expensive Eider, is unclear. Regardless, pilots may still store a small volume of cargo in the connector and cockpit stowage area.

The Tern comes in three variants. The first is the base model, with SSTO capability; this one can work equally well within a planetary atmosphere or the outer reaches of the solar system. The second and third are exclusively atmospheric and vacuum capable craft, intended only for a single environment; while these are more limited due to specialization, their performance in these environments is higher than that of the primary variant.

The Tern's compact size means that it can fit into very small hangars, making it popular with captains in need of a small personal transport that doesn't consume valuable cargo space. It has also been used for less savory purposes, as ease of storage is the same as ease of concealment.