Tiers and Space Elevator Phases
The whole two-axis spine on one page: ten Milestone tiers, five Space Elevator phases, and exactly how each one gates the next.
At a glance
| Axis 1 | Milestone tiers, Tier 0 to Tier 9. Completed at the HUB Terminal by inserting parts. |
| Axis 2 | Space Elevator phases, 1 to 5. Completed by delivering Project Assembly parts. |
| The gate | Completing a phase unlocks the next batch of tiers. You cannot rush tiers. |
| The catch | Parts inserted at the HUB or delivered to the elevator cannot be taken back. |
Tier 0 unlocks Tiers 1 and 2. After that, every tier above 2 is gated behind a Space Elevator phase, so the elevator must be built to reach Tier 3 and above.
The phase ladder
| Phase | Name | Delivers | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Platform | 50 Smart Plating | Tiers 3 and 4 |
| 2 | Framework | 500 Smart Plating, 500 Versatile Framework, 100 Automated Wiring | Tiers 5 and 6 |
| 3 | Systems | 2,500 Versatile Framework, 500 Modular Engine, 100 Adaptive Control Unit | Tiers 7 and 8 |
| 4 | Propulsion | 4,000 Assembly Director System, 4,000 Magnetic Field Generator, 1,000 Nuclear Pasta, 1,000 Thermal Propulsion Rocket | Tier 9 and the Employee of the Planet Cup |
| 5 | Project Assembly | 1,000 Nuclear Pasta, 1,000 Biochemical Sculptor, 256 AI Expansion Server, 200 Ballistic Warp Drive | Launches Project Assembly, the ending |
These are the headline phase costs. Later phases also re-consume earlier parts as ingredients, so the total you produce across a run is much higher.
The tier tree
| Tier | Key unlocks | Reached by |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Onboarding: HUB, Smelter, Constructor, Conveyor Belt, Miner Mk.1, Space Elevator | Start of game |
| 1 | Logistics (Splitter, Merger, Lift), Field Research (MAM, map, Object Scanner) | Finish Tier 0 |
| 2 | Further early logistics and building unlocks | Finish Tier 0 |
| 3 | Coal Power, pipelines, Tractor, Basic Steel (Foundry, Steel Ingot) | Phase 1 |
| 4 | Advanced Steel (Miner Mk.2, Motor, Heavy Modular Frame), Hypertubes, Blueprint Designer | Phase 1 |
| 5 | Oil Processing (Plastic, Rubber, Fuel), Manufacturer, Computer, Truck, Packager | Phase 2 |
| 6 | Logistics Mk.4 (Fuel Generator), Jetpack, Monorail Train Technology, Pipeline Mk.2 | Phase 2 |
| 7 | Bauxite Refinement (Aluminum, Blender), Drone Port, Battery, Supercomputer, Hover Pack | Phase 3 |
| 8 | Nuclear Power, Resource Wells, Miner Mk.3, Turbo Motor, Particle Accelerator, Nuclear Pasta | Phase 3 |
| 9 | Exotic matter: Converter, Quantum Encoder, Belt Mk.6, Portals, Ballistic Warp Drive | Phase 4 |
Within a tier, milestones are not strictly ordered, except Tier 0, which is sequential. You choose which milestone to complete next.
Do this in order
- Finish Tier 0 onboarding in sequence and build the Space Elevator.
- Build a starter iron factory up to Smart Plating and deliver 50 for Phase 1. That opens Tiers 3 and 4.
- Add Coal Power and a steel line. Work toward Phase 2 deliverables.
- Push into oil, plastics, and Manufacturer parts for Phase 3.
- Build aluminum, computers, nuclear, and particle chains for Phase 4.
- Scale the Tier 9 exotic-matter chains to the very large Phase 5 part counts.
Watch out for
- Trying to rush tiers. Tier 3 is locked until the Space Elevator exists and Phase 1 is delivered.
- Stockpiling phase parts. Steady supply lines beat huge one-time piles, since later phases re-consume earlier parts.
- The wiki Space Elevator table that shows only Phases 1 to 4. The live 1.0 structure has five phases, with Tier 9 gated by Phase 4 and a final Phase 5.
Related: Getting Started for the first hours, Power for the grid that fuels every tier, Fluids and Pipes for the oil and aluminum chains, and MAM, Exploration, and Hard Drives for the parallel research track.