[TopAce]

If we have a civilian Elysium, what would its ship class designation be? GTT, CT, or something else?

[Nohiki]

If it would have prefix designation at all, then probably GTT, as it is rather political designation than military one. I can imagine civilian liners having just a name, and for class name of the manufacturer and type.

[MatthTheGeek]

Maybe simply Elysium, or TT Elysium as in Terran Transport. Sticking to GTT won't look any weird either. I'm personally not a fan of the CT option.

[The E]

Personally, I'd use the GT* or GV* prefixes only for ships that are directly used by the GTVA government. Everything else should maybe get a prefix according to the corporation that runs them.

[Dilmah G]

In my reading of it, the designations were similar to the F/A in front of the F/A-18 Hornet. By that logic, I think you could get away with 'TD-70' as a ship class (Triton Dynamics 70, akin to a Boeing 737 or an MD-80, if you wanted to fluff it as being made by TD).

EDIT: What The E said works as well, in my opinion.

[headdie]

It would depend on how ship registry works for your fiction. But I would expect the GTVA to use a central registry with GT or GV starting each prefix as appropriate.

[Destiny]

As headdie said.

Generally you won't name civvie ships with a GT or GV prefix. In FS, they evac civvies and stuff in stuff produced for the military, I believe. Like the GTM Hippocrates.

[0rph3u5]

Real ships are usually registered in some country (depending what suits the owner best) and accordingly have national registration numbers and/or markings...

and that's why I use as template in SoI

[BlueFlames]

Personally, I'd use the GT* or GV* prefixes only for ships that are directly used by the GTVA government.

In the case of civilian vessels, I always thought of the GT*/GV* prefix as indicating that the ship is under the protection of the GTVA (which all civilian vessels in the FS2 era would be, thanks to the Beta Acquilae Convention).  It's like a flagged merchant in the modern era - the vessel has to abide by certain rules and regulations, but in return, they can call on the nation's military assets in the event of an emergency.  Since FreeSpace vessels don't fly flags, as it is a challenge to do so in space, the prefix before the ship's name fills the role that the flag otherwise would have.