Seedships

Seedships are an unmanned alternative to generation ships. They typically travel at slow, sublight speeds, carrying mass amounts of preserved genetic material. Typically, an entire first generation of colonists is created and educated through artificial means--engineered, vat-grown, AI-educated, and raised by robots. Once on their feet, a viable species can usually reproduce on its own--although this may not always be the case! Some seedships may become deity-like, robotic ever-mothers, producing a whole population of healthy but sterile clones.
Taking inspiration from Transhuman Space, it may be more effective to seed planets with bioroids--they're quickly grown, and may be custom-tailored to a planet's biome. In a more high-flying space opera, planets may have been seeded long ago with fast-growing parahumans, such as the rabbit-like Lepus biomod. Most modern travelers in space opera, however, have faster-than-light drives, making unmanned seedships "artifacts of a bygone age".
== In-Book Examples ==
* Johnny Appleseed-class Seedship
* Star Seed-class Factory Probe
== Simplified Seedship Process ==
* Find viable planet
* First generation, raised by AI and robots
* First generation collects basic resources
** Feeds resources into on-board nanofactories
* Nanofactories create more tools and building materials
* Second generation has more solid homes to live in
* Ship creates more generations if need be, and is mainly used as a town center and education hub
=== Terraforming ===
Advanced seedships (TL11+) might terraform planets long before seeding them. Depositing vast amounts of phytoplankton and plants onto a planet, for instance, could make its atmosphere more breathable for animals.
== References ==
* Spaceships 5: Exploration and Colony Spacecraft, "Seedships", p.23
Category:Spaceships