Classified Missions

I'm not sure exactly when the classified missions start appearing on the bulleting board. They are offered by both military powers and you can easily spot them as they are headed "CLASSIFIED MISSION". At the bottom right of the screen you can see a brief description of the mission. The bit that's missing off the bottom of the page says that you need to destroy the Military Defence Satellite first, BEFORE you photograph the secret research base. It is very important because the satellite broadcasts your ship's ID to all pirates in the system and beyond, which means you will be constantly attacked by all manner of ships everywhere you go until you wipe out that satellite !

Once you've accepted you'll see a screen like this. Your ship will also have been equipped with a nuclear missile and a transmission jammer - this last item stops the satellite from sending out your ship ID while you're in the system. Then you can destroy the satellite with the nuclear warhead before heading for the research base.
You'll find you've also got some military cameras fitted which you will use when you get to the base.
So the order is :-
1  Jump to AC+79 3888
2  Destroy military satellite
3  Photograph research base

Ok ??

Let's have a quick look at the system where you are doing the mission - very unremarkable but it's worth noting that the research base is on the 13th planet and the defence satellite will be orbiting that planet.
So when you jump into the system locate the 13th planet on the orbital map, zoom out a little and you should find an object listed orbiting the planet.

This is what we found lurking in orbit around the planet - one sinister looking piece of military hardware with the ID AH-928.
This is the little feller you have to shoot down with your nuclear missile so set your autopilot for the satellite and get there as soon as possible.
By the way, you'll receive a message when you jump into the system telling you that you've entered a restricted military zone. You can ignore this message really but be warned - transmission jammer or not, there are going to be a few ships waiting to pounce on you so make sure your laser is warmed up.

Well, we've got past the enemy ships and located the satellite. This is a nice shot showing our ship heading towards the satellite with the planet in the background. So what you want to do is set your battle target to the satellite, so that your one-and-only nuke will have the correct target stored in its memory.
Once the satellite's destroyed, you need to set your autopilot for the planet.
First things first....

Away goes the missile from the launch bay of your ship. These missiles travel pretty fast but just under 30km is a good distance to launch it from.
Most times the satellite will explode when your missile detonates but sometimes they're a bit tougher and may withstand the blast. Don't worry though, the machine really is on its last legs and you can swoop in to finish it off with your lasers.
So that's the first part out of the way, time to move on to the main event.

As described above, you should select the planet as your autopilot's target. When you get there your id system should pick up an item on the planet's surface called *rontier. You may need to orbit the planet for a short time before it comes into view.
That's the research base that your computer has picked out, so set course for it and get moving.

You'll have a lot of enemy ships to take care of here but if your skills are up to scratch you'll get through and get closer and closer to the research base.
Select the base as a battle target and start taking pictures by clicking on the camera icon to the left of your screen. There's no shortage of film so take as many pictures as you want, and try to get closer than 10km from the base if you can because this will earn you extra points as the pictures will be that much more useful.
Of course you'll have your hands full with wave after wave of enemy ships attacking you, but then nobody said this mission was going to be easy, did they ??

Once you've got the best set of pictures you can safely manage, fire your thrusters and get away from the planet. Hyperspace back to where you picked up the mission in the first place - in this case Eta Cassiopeia - and after you dock you'll get this brief thank-you message, the payment will be credited to your account and points added to your tally which will give you a big push towards promotion.
All in all, a good day's work !