Similar to the Alien Data Discs, which is an untradeable artifact found in shipments that when opened gives a certain amount of research points, I propose another artifact that does the same for minerals, Space Junk. It does not give credits as some have suggested, but gives minerals. Obviously rarity, point cost, and mineral gain would be balanced to maintain good gameplay, but would probably resemble the Alien Data Disc in most respects.

The justification for such an artifact is that mining (of course) and research (through contracts) can be used to boost your income, but artifacts not so much, at least not directly. Dropping minerals instead of credits means its value will scale more appropriately with rank, since higher ranks get higher minerals but also use higher minerals and more credits.

sorry, but i'm going to have to -1 this one.

i can already make a decent income selling artis for KU. an arti drop that gives me minerals decreases the chance of getting a better arti (for use or sale).

if you have upkeep problems, re-jig your module setup to something more affordable.

+1, I like this. Perhaps also there could be an accompanying CT lab mining arti much like the DM79 data center.

-1.
There is no need and little demand for things like this. I'd much rather see work being done on things already on the list.