Those who assume that mining in Star Citizen will be drudgery and boredom personified could have that perspective challenged by piloting the Prospector.
The Prospector is a small one-person ship that’s designed for covert mining. This means that players can use it to slip into a system, pinpoint specific resources, extract them, and then get out without hopefully being noticed by nefarious parties. While its four containers can hold a decent amount of mined ore and gasses, the Prospector lacks significant offensive and defensive capabilities in a combat situation. The devs recommend that those concerned about safety should hire a fighter escort.
The act of mining won’t be completely passive, either: “When in the landed mining state you will be able to leave your laser going while you take care of other business, but your productivity will suffer for it. You will have to effectively manage your heat and power on the laser, otherwise your mining rate will slow or you could risk damaging your laser.”
