Sulaco (fictional spacecraft)

Sulaco

The Sulaco heading for LV-426
First appearance	Aliens
References	"Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual"
General characteristics
Class	Conestoga-class light assault carrier
Maximum speed	0.74 light years per sidereal day (269.547 c)
Fighters	4 assault/cargo shuttles
Auxiliary craft	8 UD-4L "Cheyenne" utility dropships
Armaments	8 long-range ASAT missiles 2 x 800 MeV neutral particle beam weapons (disable electronics, range of 100,000 km) 4 kinetic energy railguns (two twin turrets) 60 orbital fragmentation mines 80 guided re-entry vehicles including bunker buster, high-explosive, and nuclear weapon warheads
Defenses	2 x 80 MW point-defense lasers 20 decoy ballutes 2 maneuverable decoy drones Jamming system (range of 6,000 miles in space, up to 60 miles in atmosphere) Radar absorbing construction
Propulsion	0.5 g (1.0 g in emergencies)
Power	1 Westingland A-59 Lithium-Hydride Fusion Reactor
Mass	78,000 metric tons
Length	385 m (1,260 ft)
Width	50 m (164 ft)
Height	85 m (280 ft)

The U.S.S. Sulaco is a fictional spaceship and important setting in the film Aliens. It also appears briefly in the opening scene of Alien 3, and in the Aliens: Colonial Marines and Aliens Infestation video game that takes place shortly after the events of Alien 3.

The Sulaco is named after a fictional town in Joseph Conrad's novel Nostromo (the name of the ship from the original Alien), and a number of other names in the franchise are based on Conrad's work as well.

Some scholarly research into the symbolism of the Alien franchise has considered it significant that Sulaco in Conrad's Nostromo is the home of the owners of the silver mine figuring in the book, while the Sulaco in Aliens transports soldiers to investigate unknown troubles at a corporate outpost of Weyland Yutani and to protect the investment—drawing parallels between the 'corporate' owners in Conrad's work and the shadowy business entity forming a central part of the Aliens franchise.

The Sulaco is a Conestoga-class starship that transports United States Colonial Marines to investigate the loss of communication with a colony on LV-426 in the Aliens movie. While carrying only a small complement in the movie, and only two dropships, it is noted in other reference material that as a troop carrier, the Sulaco could carry up to 20,000 tons of cargo, with up to eight UD4L Cheyenne dropships and has sufficient life support capabilities for 90 crew and passengers (with up to 2,000 possible in hibernation for short term trips).

After encountering aliens in the colony, only Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), a colonist named Newt (Carrie Henn), Marine Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn), and the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) manage to return to the ship. They also accidentally carry along an alien queen, which Ripley ejects into space during the movie's final battle before the survivors enter cryogenic sleep. In Alien 3, a fire aboard the Sulaco leads to the survivors' cryogenic sleep tubes being launched from the ship, with its further fate unknown.