Logistics

Logistics is what turns a pile of separate factories into one economy. Early on it is just belts and sorters carrying items a few tiles. By the mid-game it is Planetary Logistics Stations shuffling goods around a single planet, and by the late game it is Interstellar Logistics Stations pulling titanium from one star and silicon from another into a single balanced network. Getting the belt math right early and letting the station network do the balancing later is most of what “scaling” means in DSP.

Belts and sorters

Belts are the base layer. Conveyor Belts come in three tiers carrying 6, 12, and 30 items per second respectively, and almost every ratio decision traces back to those three numbers. A Mk.I belt at 6 per second is the yardstick: two miners each covering 6 veins fill one, and six basic smelters drain one.

Sorters connect belts to buildings. They come in Mk.I through Mk.III plus the later Pile Sorter, and they can reach belts 1, 2, or 3 tiles away depending on tier. Higher tiers move items faster, and the top-tier pile or stacking sorters can move stacked cargo, which matters once you are pushing full Mk.III belts. Match sorter tier to belt tier so the sorter is never the bottleneck.

Planetary logistics

Once you unlock the Planetary Logistics Station you stop running long belts across a whole planet. These stations move goods around a single planet using Logistics Drones. You set each slot to supply or demand a given item, and the drones fly the shortfall between stations. It is the first time the network balances stock for you instead of you hand-routing every belt.

Logistics Distributors and the mecha’s own logistics bots handle small local top-ups. A common trick is using them to distribute proliferator to scattered buildings without dedicating a belt to it.

Interstellar logistics

Interstellar Logistics Stations (ILS) are the backbone of a multi-planet empire. They move goods between planets and star systems using Logistics Vessels, and they consume Space Warpers for interstellar hops. As with planetary stations, you set supply and demand per slot and the network balances stock automatically, except now the balancing crosses the galaxy map.

This is what makes rare single-source resources usable everywhere. Titanium, silicon, crude oil, and rare crystals often exist on only one or two bodies, and the ILS network turns them into cluster-wide supply. The galaxy map, a 3D star map, is where you plot the interstellar routes those vessels fly.

Interstellar hops burn Space Warpers. If an ILS runs dry of warpers, its vessels stop making interstellar trips and the far side of your network silently starves. Keep a warper supply line into every interstellar station, and produce warpers in the mall so you never run out.

Sizing the network

Tier	Range	Carrier
Belts and sorters	1 to 3 tiles	none
Planetary Logistics Station	one planet	Logistics Drones
Interstellar Logistics Station	between planets and stars	Logistics Vessels + Space Warpers

The practical rule is to escalate only when you need to. Belts inside a factory block, planetary stations to link blocks on one planet, and interstellar stations to link planets. Over-building interstellar stations for goods that never leave a planet just wastes vessels and warpers.

Where it fits the spine

Logistics tech is gated by the matrices. The Planetary Logistics Station comes in around the Energy Matrix stage, and Interstellar Logistics Station tech sits up around the Information Matrix. That ordering is deliberate: you are meant to master one planet before you spread across systems, which is also why the starter planet lacks titanium, silicon, and oil and forces you outward.

Next: build the power that logistics ultimately serves in the Dyson sphere deep guide. For the ratio anchors behind the belt math, see the smelting and mall cheatsheet.