Commissioned in 2446, the Ishimurawas considered a symbol of mankind's innovation. As one of the first capital starships to be outfitted with a ShockPoint Drive making faster-than-light travel almost trivial, the Ishimura was designed to mine and process asteroids and even small moons with remarkable efficiency. It was also the first ship capable of the pioneering "scan and catch" technique for harvesting mineral-rich asteroids. Utilising huge gravity tethers, the Ishimura could lock onto asteroids and pull them inside the ship's massive collection bays for quick and efficient smelting.[3][4]
62 years after it was first launched, the Ishimura was still in remarkable shape. Its equipment had been upgraded over the years, and many of its interior spaces had been retrofitted to take advantage of current technological advances. Despite so many long years of service, it remained the pride of the CEC fleet and was still the company's largest planet cracker. Whenever a vital deep space mining project required skill and experience, the Ishimura was the first ship to be called.[4]Without the resources gathered by the Ishimura, Earth and its colonies would still be embroiled in the Resource Wars.[3]
Despite being designed primarily as a mining vessel, the Ishimura also functioned as a medical research vessel. It had a dedicated medical wing where extensive research into virology, toxins and genetics was conducted.
Though the Ishimura was the pride of the fleet, the CEC considered it to be growing somewhat obsolete and planned to decommission the ship in 2509, following its 35th - and final - planet crack.[3]
