Core & tech
Research lab
The building that turns extracted material into ideas you can act on.
Research labThe lab is where a colony stops improvising. Somewhere between the third borehole and the first refinery, someone decides that guessing is expensive and builds a place to stop doing it.
Its level is a quiet measure of ambition. Deep research demands a deep lab, and commanders who neglect it hit a wall that no amount of ore will break.
What it does
Unlocks and gates almost the entire research tree - nearly every line requires a lab at a specific level, from level 1 for the basics to level 10 for the deepest work. Requires a Pig iron mine, Crystal field, and Frubin collector before it can be built.
Requirements
- Pig iron mine · level 1 or higher
- Crystal field · level 1 or higher
- Frubin collector · level 1 or higher
Level 1 cost
- Pig iron720
- Crystal180
- Frubin180
- Maximum level
- 15
Unlocks
- Gas phase liquefier
- Nuclear power plant
- Plasma phase neutralizer
- Solid phase press
- Solid refinery
- Advanced espionage
- Advanced material extraction
- Astrogation sequencing
- Beacon tech II
- Beacon tech III
- Beacon tech IV
- Beacon tech V
- Colonization
- Colony solid drop
- Espionage
- Fusion power
- Geothermal power
- In-depth espionage
- Interstellar trade
- Ionisation
- Nuclear power
- Nuclear-thermal engines
- Orbit logistics
- Orizin extraction
- Parallel construction
- Gas liquefaction reversal
- Plasma neutralization reversal
- Gas phase transfer
- Liquid phase transfer
- Plasma phase transfer
- Solid phase transfer
- Precision component assembly
- Solid processing
- Tier 2 processing
- Tier 3 processing
- Tier 4 processing
- Tier 5 processing
- Gas storage
- Liquid storage
- Plasma storage
- Solid storage
- Waste storage
- Ship design
- Small hull design
- Ship gas storage
- Ship liquid storage
- Ship plasma storage
- Ship solid storage
- Ship waste storage
- Signal transmission
- Solar power
- Space occupation
Related guides
Research lab. The building that turns extracted material into ideas you can act on.. Unlocks and gates almost the entire research tree - nearly every line requires a lab at a specific level, from level 1 for the basics to level 10 for the deepest work. Requires a Pig iron mine, Crystal field, and Frubin collector before it can be built.