Editing Courier

{{Status|Canon}}
'''Couriers''' are a type of [[Human starship|starship]] heavily employed by [[human]]ity, primarily for the purpose of [[superluminal communications]]. Prior to the mid-26th century, human faster-than-light communications relied courier vessels to manually move between the stars and [[Human colonies|colony worlds]] of human space to link together the [[Unified Earth Government]]'s domain.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22Comms|Enc22|Page=29}} Most courier ships take the form of small shuttles; fast, versatile, reliable, and requiring only a minimal crew for their journeys.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=131}} However, the role can be performed by essentially any ship with a memory bank within which to store data, such as [[freighter]]s like [[DCS light freighter|those]] used by the [[UNSC Department of Commercial Shipping]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=CH1|HCH|Chapter=1}} Couriers carry large communications arrays that let them upload and download large masses of data when entering a given star system, communicating with the system's developed network of satellites and [[laser]] communications infrastructure.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22Comms}}

Couriers maintain a strong presence in the more [[Inner Colonies|developed worlds]] of humanity,{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} and have been likened to the 26th century equivalent of the [[Wikipedia:Pony Express|Pony Express]].{{Ref/Reuse|CH1}} They are used in both civilian, [[Unified Earth Government|governmental]], and [[United Nations Space Command|military]] roles, and may also be used as [[diplomatic shuttle]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} The {{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}} command refits often serviced couriers for wartime use.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=118}}

==Courier classes==
The following represent some of the most commonly-used couriers in human space.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} However, many other kinds of human ship such as freighters may serve in the role.{{Ref/Reuse|CH1}}
*'''{{Class|Gypsum|courier}}'''
*'''{{Class|Vancouver|courier}}'''
*'''{{Class|Zheng He|courier}}'''
<gallery class="center">
File:Enc22 Vancouver.png|The ''[[Han]]'', a {{Class|Vancouver|courier}} in [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] service.
File:HTV EndymionII.png|''[[Endymion II]]'', a {{Class|Zheng He|courier}}.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''
*''[[Halo Infinite: Memory Agent]]''
*''[[Halo: The Television Series]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Ship types}}