Hathor Orbital Laser · Hitchhiker's Guide to the Verse

MISSION BRIEFING

This is a permanent sandbox loop, not an accepted mission — nobody hands it to you and nothing marks it on your map.

It blends FPS security (clearing Nine Tails at every PAF/OLP), a multi-stage alignment puzzle, and hand-mining under time pressure in an exposed crater.

Several specifics — the exact OLP battery count, the keycard-colour-to-door mapping, crater despawn timing — are genuinely disputed across community sources; this guide flags each one rather than picking a number to sound confident.

ROUTE INTELLIGENCE

Where you are going

Daymar (Crusader’s moon)

Attritus / Lamina PAF-I/II/III

Clear Nine Tails, print Maintenance→Security keycards, collect 3 Alignment Blades per facility, align the dish.

Approach: Land outside obvious approach lanes; heat range is mild (−40°C to 78°C) but hostiles are present at every facility.

Aberdeen (Hurston’s moon)

Ruptura / Vivere PAF-I/II/III

Same alignment loop as Daymar’s PAFs.

Approach: Aberdeen runs 170–237°C — bring a heat-rated suit before landing.

Low orbit above whichever moon you chose

The OLP itself

Install batteries in the pad generators, print the Laser Activation Keycard, optionally loot Storage/Supervisor rooms.

Approach: Clear Nine Tails first; keep a pilot in a ready ship.

Unmarked, ~1 km from the eventual impact point

Laser Activation Bunker

Insert the Laser Activation Keycard and fire the laser.

Approach: Note its position before you need to find it under time pressure.

Created by the laser strike

The exposed crater

Hand-mine Carinite, Jaclium (Ore) or Saldynium — including a reported "Pure" crater-exclusive variant.

Approach: Scan first; watch for hostile creatures in the cave system.

LOADOUT LOGIC

What you need and why

requiredFPS combat kit

Nine Tails occupy every PAF and OLP in the loop.

No substitute listed

requiredMining ship + suitable head

Carinite/Jaclium/Saldynium can only be collected by hand-mining or ROC — a mining ship gets the ore home.

No substitute listed

requiredHeat-rated suit

Aberdeen runs 170–237°C; standard undersuits are not rated for it.

No substitute listed

recommendedGround vehicle

Covers the PAF-to-PAF and bunker legs faster and safer than walking.

Alternative: Land directly at each site if terrain allows.

recommendedEscort ship

None of these sites are patrolled — covers the OLP and bunker legs.

Alternative: Use a coordinated defensive crew instead of a dedicated escort.

VISUAL CHECKS

What to look for

PAF Maintenance vs Security Keycard

Blue (Maintenance) opens the printer that produces red (Security) — you need both, in that order, at every PAF.

Alignment Blade ×3

Each PAF terminal needs exactly three to calibrate — confirmed by the item’s own description.

Laser Activation Keycard

Dispensed by the OLP control-room button once batteries are in; must be carried to the ground bunker, not used on the platform.

Correct ore name

Carinite, Jaclium (Ore) or Saldynium — not Quantainium, and not "Caranite" (a common misspelling).

RECOVERY PLAYBOOK

When it goes wrong

A PAF terminal won’t accept the Alignment Blades.

Confirm you have exactly three and that the Security Keycard-gated control room is the one you’re standing in — some facilities have more than one control room.

The OLP won’t give a keycard after installing batteries.

The battery count needed is disputed — bring batteries from all three of that site’s PAFs before assuming the platform is bugged.

The laser won’t fire at the bunker.

The Laser Activation Keycard is single-use and must be inserted at the ground bunker terminal, not used anywhere on the platform.

The crater doesn’t seem mineable.

Confirm the laser actually fired (visible beam/crater) and that you’re scanning inside the new crater, not the original facility footprint.

A Wikelo hand-in doesn’t register.

Freight-elevator delivery has been unreliable this patch — try a single small delivery before committing the full haul, and keep a receipt/screenshot.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Rewards and progression

↳ Carinite, Jaclium (Ore) or Saldynium sold at standard commodity prices — check current UEX rates rather than assuming a fixed value

↳ Progress toward Wikelo Emporium contracts and reputation when bartered instead of sold for aUEC

FINAL GO / NO-GO

Departure checklist

□Pick one site: Attritus/Lamina (Daymar) or Ruptura/Vivere (Aberdeen).

□Clear and align all three PAFs, collecting one battery each.

□Clear the OLP and install all batteries in the pad generators.

□Print the Laser Activation Keycard from the control room.

□Locate and use the unmarked ground bunker to fire the laser.

□Hand-mine the exposed crater for Carinite/Jaclium/Saldynium.

□Sell for aUEC or barter to Wikelo — verify the hand-in registered.

Step-by-step route7 stages

01
Pick a site — Daymar or Aberdeen
This is not a contract you accept; there is no issuer and no mobiGlas marker to follow. Instead pick one of four sites, each a pair of an Orbital Laser Platform (OLP) plus three ground Platform Alignment Facilities (PAF): Attritus OLP or Lamina OLP over Daymar (Crusader’s moon), or Ruptura OLP or Vivere OLP over Aberdeen (Hurston’s moon). Each has three numbered ground facilities — e.g. Lamina PAF-I, -II, -III — that all need aligning before the platform will fire.
Lamina PAF-I planetary alignment facility on DaymarScreenshot by T00dled00 via Star Citizen Wiki (CC BY SA 4.0) — game content © Cloud Imperium Games ↗
02
Clear and align each PAF
At each of the three PAFs, clear the Nine Tails occupying the facility, then get a PAF Maintenance Keycard (community: blue) to open the maintenance doors, and use it to print a PAF Security Keycard (community: red) — sc-kantine.de reports roughly 3 blue and 3 red spawn points and 3 control rooms per facility. The security doors guard the control room holding three Alignment Blades; the terminal there needs all three to calibrate the dish before it will align. A successful alignment yields one battery to carry up to orbit.
03
Carry batteries to the OLP
Fly up to the OLP itself (low moon orbit), clear its Nine Tails, and install each battery in the orange power generators on the large landing pads — two slots per pad. Sources disagree on the exact count needed (some say 3, matching one per PAF; others describe 4 physical slots) — bring all three PAF batteries from your site and expect the platform to tell you if more are needed.
Lamina OLP orbital laser platform in low Daymar orbit with Crusader behind itScreenshot by T00dled00 via Star Citizen Wiki (CC BY SA 4.0) — game content © Cloud Imperium Games ↗
04
Print the Laser Activation Keycard
Once batteries are installed, enter the Platform Control Room — a red button appears in the centre once the last battery is in. Pressing it dispenses the Laser Activation Keycard, a single-use item whose own description states it must be carried to a ground-based Laser Activation Bunker before the laser will fire. Two more keycards, OLP Storage and OLP Supervisor, gate loot rooms on the platform itself if you want to search before heading back down.
Ruptura OLP orbital laser platform above AberdeenScreenshot by T00dled00 via Star Citizen Wiki (CC BY SA 4.0) — game content © Cloud Imperium Games ↗
05
Fire the laser from the ground bunker
Fly back down to the unmarked Laser Activation Bunker — community reports place it roughly 1 km from where the beam will actually hit. Insert the Laser Activation Keycard into its terminal and press the large red button. The laser fires into the moon, blasting open a crater and cave system where the event minerals become exposed.
⚠ The bunker location is unmarked and the OLP/PAF loop is unpatrolled the whole way — treat every leg between sites as a PvP risk, not just the platform itself.
06
Hand-mine the exposed crater
At the fresh crater, look for Carinite, Jaclium (Ore) or Saldynium — never Quantainium, despite what some guides claim. A "Pure" variant is reported as exclusive to these craters. Hand-mine with an FPS mining tool (a ROC also works where terrain allows) and watch for hostile creatures in the caves, sometimes called Valakkar worms in community writeups.
Hand mining a harvestable mineral deposit on a moon surfaceScreenshot by Chiff via Star Citizen Wiki (CC BY SA 4.0) — game content © Cloud Imperium Games ↗
07
Sell or barter the haul
Sell the raw ore to a commodity buyer for standard aUEC, or bring it to Wikelo — physically, inside the Wikelo Emporium bazaar, hand-ins go through the on-site freight elevator — to barter toward his armor, weapons, cosmetics and reward ships. Wikelo contracts often ask for specific quantities of these ores alongside other items and Wikelo Favor reputation, so check his current board before selling everything for cash.
⚠ Freight-elevator hand-ins have been unreliable this patch — contracted cargo can fail to register. Try a small delivery before committing a full haul.