Confederation standard general use probes, are divided into nine classes, arranged according to sensor types, power, and performance ratings. The features common to all nine are spacecraft frames of gamma molded duranium-tritanium and pressure-bonded lufium boronate, with certain sensor windows of triple layered transparent aluminum. Sensors not utilizing the windows are affixed through various methods, from surface blending with the hull material to imbedding the active detectors within the hull itself.































Class I Probe
Range: 200,000 km.
Delta-v limit: 0.5c.
Powerplant: Vectored deuterium micro-fusion propulsion.
Sensors: Full EM/Subspace and interstellar chemistry pallet for in-space applications.
Telemetry: 12,500 channels at 12 megawatts.





Class II Probe
Range: 400,000 km.
Delta-v limit: 0.65c.
Powerplant: Vectored deuterium micro-fusion propulsion, with extended deuterium fuel supply.
Sensors: Same instrumentation as a Class I Probe, with addition of enhanced long-range particle and field detectors and imaging system.
Telemetry: 15,650 channels at 20 megawatts.





Class III Probe
Range: 1,200,000 km.
Delta-v limit: 0.65c.
Powerplant: Vectored deuterium micro-fusion propulsion.
Sensors: Terrestrial and gas giant sensor pallet with material smaple and return capability, and an on-board chemical analysis sub-module.
Telemetry: 13,250 channels at approximately 15 megawatts.
Additional Data: Limited SIF hull reinforcement. Full range of terrestrial soft landing to subsurface penetrator missions. Gas giant atmosphere missions survivable to 450 bar pressure. Limited terrestrial loiter time.





Class IV Probe
Range: 3,500,000 km.
Delta-v limit: 0.60c.
Powerplant: Vectored deuterium micro-fusion propulsion supplemented with continuum driver coil, and an extended maneuvering deuterium supply.
Sensors: Triply redundant stellar fields and particles detectors, stellar atmosphere analysis suite.
Telemetry: 9,780 channels at 65 megawatts.
Additional Data: Six ejectable and survivable radiation flux subprobes. Deployable for non-stellar energy phenomena.





Class V Probe
Range: 43,000,000,000 km.
Delta-v limit: Warp 2.
Powerplant: Dual-mode matter / antimatter engine. Extended duration at sub-light, and limited duration at warp.
Sensors: Extended passive data-gathering and recording systems, with full autonomous mission execution and return system.
Telemetry: 6,320 channels at 2.5 megawatts.
Additional Data: Planetary atmosphere entry and soft landing capability. Low observability coatings and hull materials. Can be modified for tactical applications with addition of custom sensor countermeasure package.





Class VI Probe
Range: 43,000,000,000 km.
Delta-v limit: 0.8c.
Powerplant: Microfusion engine with high output MHD power tap.
Sensors: Standard pallet.
Telemetry and
Communication: 9,270 channel RF and subspace transceiver operation at 350 megawatts peak radiated power. 360 omni antenna coverage, 0.0001 arc-second high-gain antenna pointing resolution.
Additional Data: Extended deuterium supply for transceiver power generation and planetary orbit plane changes.





Class VII Probe
Range: 450,000,000 km.
Delta-v limit: Warp 1.5.
Powerplant: Dual-mode matter / antimatter engine.
Sensors: Passive data gathering system plus subspace transceiver.
Telemetry: 1,050 channels at 0.5 megawatts.
Additional Data: Applicable to civilizations up to technology level III. Low observability coatings and hull materials. Maximum loiter time: 3.5 months. Low-impact molecular destruct package tied to anti-tamper detectors.





Class VIII Probe
Range: 120 light years.
Delta-v limit: Warp 9.
Powerplant: Matter / antimatter warp field sustainer engine. Duration 6.5 hours at warp 9. MHD power supply tap for sensors and subspace transceiver.
Sensors: Standard pallet plus mission-specific modules.
Telemetry: 4,550 channels at 300 megawatts.
Additional Data: Applications vary from galactic particles and fields research to early-warning reconnaissance missions.





Class IX Probe
Range: 760 light years.
Delta-v limit: Warp 9.
Powerplant: Matter / antimatter warp field sustainer engine. Duration 12 hours at warp 9. Extended fuel supply for Warp 8 maximum flight duration of fourteen days.
Sensors: Standard pallet plus mission-specific modules.
Telemetry: 6,500 channels at 230 megawatts.
Additional Data: Limited payload capacity. Isolinear memory storage of 3,400 kiloquads. Fifty-channel transponder echo. Typical application is emergency log-message capsule on homing trajectory to nearest starbase or known Starfleet vessel position.