Lighter
A shuttle craft that ferries cargo and passengers between orbiting ships and a planet's surface.
Heighliners never touch a planet's atmosphere. So lighters carry the last, crucial leg of nearly every interstellar journey. They move cargo, spice, and dignitaries between an orbiting ship and the ground. Arrakis depends on this more than most worlds, since spice production lives or dies on fast, high-volume transport off-world. The steady traffic of lighters climbing to meet Heighliners in orbit forms one of the basic rhythms of Imperial commerce. Their size is modest next to a Heighliner or frigate, which makes them handy for almost anything. One run hauls bulk cargo. The next carries the ceremonial arrival of a noble delegation. The Spacing Guild oversees lighter traffic and scheduling with a quiet hand. That oversight gave the Guild one more lever, subtle but real, over how goods and people moved through the Imperium.
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