If you have a galaxy spanning empire, chances are you have a fairly robust fleet of cargo and transport ships to ferry goods from one location to another. Quite a lot of sci fi art focuses on ships that destroy things. So I wanted to take some time and collect a group of ships that really showcased some of the neat flavor that you find in the cargo/transport ship area of sci fi.
Orbital Utility by Edouard Groult
Cargo Ship by Till Freitag
This is one where it's really nice to appreciate the design before you go and check out the author's reference image. Well, regardless of all that, the mouth on this thing is superb. Reminiscent of a whale shark.
The palette actually reminds me a bit of Redline (a really cool anime movie). So maybe this could be a speed transporter.
Cargo Ship by Pablo Dominguez
A little bit of a stretch? Just maybe. It's clear from a few elements of the design that this guy hovers above the water - rather than heading off into space. Despite that, I'm a big fan of the design, and it's really easy for me to see something like this adapted just a little bit and in spaceship territory.
-The Shipment: Cargo Ship Concept- by Pat Presley
I really enjoy designs with things like exposed piping and connectors. I also appreciate the size of this one - just two cargo containers. So you have a fairly advanced society, but not everyone wins in it. Which is more akin to most of the sci fi books and shows that start out with a ‘rag-tag crew'
Defensive Cargo Ship by Vitaliy Ostaschenko
A nice blocky design with nice blue and red highlights. Quite a lot of defense for a cargo ship. So this lives in a very dangerous galaxy.
Typhon freight hauler concept by Anton Swanepoel
More of a tug/grabber style. You'd expect to see something like this more for in-system transport; and probably mostly around a single planet or space station.
Space Container Ship by DionStabber
I love how sleek this one is. Very minimal structure. It speaks to a very prosperous future - from the clean ship itself, all the way down to the color palette of the containers. If you follow the source link, you'll find that there's an animated version too!
Prosperous Universe - Early Access Artwork by Maciej Rebisz
Bulk Power Co Capital Ship by Pierre-E. FIESCHI
This here is a neat one. What does it transport? Power. It's a bit hard to see on the thumbnail, but when you visit the linked page, notice that there are lines heading down to the ground below. Normally when I think about transport ships, I think of physical goods.
Especially when an empire is expanding, there can also be brute force transport of infrastructure.
Cargo Spaceship by Jakub Wysocki
In most of this list we've seen lots of little arms for moving single containers around. Here we can see, and start thinking more about the actual port/dock where large amounts of containers are quickly moved around.
The Noodle Box by Karl Poyzer
large loader by Col Price
Freight Spaceship Design by Dominik Zdenković
ARGO SRV by sarah mcculloch
Cargo Ship by Stoupa
The Shipping Lane: The Ore Traders by Pat Presley
Hull E
Eagle Class Cargo Ship by mark zhang
Ship 6869 by Tom Hicks
Cargo Ship by Pengzhen Zhang
Shipment by Jonathan Lee
I'm going to enjoy updating this list in particular. So make sure to check back from time to time. A lot of the time when a story does get into trade and goods, the point of the story ends up being political. Or you have a small ship with the rag-tag crew trope. I have a lot of fun finding cargo/transport ships that break that mold.