What tech level makes sense for an early construction ship?

Do you got advice which kind of basic setup makes sense for a construction ship?

I mean like which generator/battery/drive setup is the minimum that makes actually sense in being significantly faster than standard building? Does it need any armor against Asteroids or meteorites?

I want to be prepared before hitting the Asteroids. Last try the other factions somehow were at Ceres before me. So I suspect they have a fast traveling construction ship.