Dockyards have existed in the current format for well over a year. There are 3 or 4 general missions, 1 mission for each ship type available, and a challenge mission. Each mission other than the challenge mission rewards 10,000 Credits, which is small enough to not need to be completed after the player finishes the week's condition of 6 or 7 missions completed. The only break to this convention is the "challenge mission" in each week that can yield strong ecobonuses for completing, as well as speeding up the grind for that week if accomplished.
The prizes from the Dockyard are awarded through finishing phases and receiving items in the Dockyard area of the client.