I like your idea of a starfarer for extended refueling for exploration. I would say for the ideal exploration, it would consisting of 4 unit squad consisting of the following ships and setup: Key A - a center piece (freelancer,constellation,idris,...) B -2 smaller ships (hornet, 300, ...) C -one support ship (ideally a starfarer for a refueling ) with a setup like this for maximum protection of support ship and good cover for the fighters as well if they stay within the range of the center ship. ======A====== ==B===A===B== ======A====== ======C======