That definitely works. There are a few conditions for it to unock (you must have a bunch of different bot crates in cargo so they can be stolen, you must have retrieved the infiltrator, you must own more than 2 Mil, ...)
Viewing post in Space Journey X - Version V2.40 Public Release comments
I have the infiltrator (though at this point not with the original shell: Nimhe learned from that shell and crafted new ones) and easily enough money. I guess it must be the botcrates then, will try that, thanks. Though as feedback: that's an easy to miss requirement, especially early on you're likely to either sell them to get your ship gear going or to unpack them to have parts and free up limited cargo space. A pre-quest mission hint or making it more unavoidable could help.