Building space platforms
Platforms live on asteroids. Collectors grab chunks, crushers turn them into iron ore, carbon and ice, and chemical plants make the thruster fuel and oxidizer that move the ship. Everything has to fit on foundation tiles you launch from the ground.
- A science platform first. A small platform in orbit around Nauvis, making space science from crushed asteroids, needs no thrusters at all.
- Crushers. One crusher turns metallic chunks into 10 iron ore per second, carbonic into 5 carbon and oxide into 2.5 ice. See asteroid crushing.
- Thrusters. A thruster at full power uses 120 fuel and 120 oxidizer per second, but a half-fed thruster gives 84% of the thrust for 60% of the fuel. See the thruster fuel ratio.
- Defence grows with the route. Inner planets need gun turrets; the routes to Aquilo and beyond bring bigger asteroids that need rockets and railguns.
New in Factorio 2.1
Rockets can now carry several item types in one launch, and platforms in the same orbit can send cargo to each other, so one supply platform can feed others.
Space platform questions
Why is my platform full of one kind of chunk?
Collectors grab what passes by. Asteroid reprocessing turns a chunk into the other kinds (80% back), which rebalances the supply.
Why did my platform stop in the middle of the route?
It ran out of thruster fuel, oxidizer or turret ammo. Keep a buffer of both fluids and ammo, and let the platform wait in orbit until it is stocked.