Scout asteroid fields, deploy mining ships, extract raw ore, and haul it back to your station for processing. Every ship built, every module crafted, every colony supplied starts with what comes out of the belt.
Mining is the economic backbone of Stars Beyond. Raw materials extracted from asteroid belts feed every production chain in the game. Station modules, ship components, colony supplies, trade goods — all of it traces back to ore pulled from rock.
The mining loop is straightforward but deep. Scout a field to identify deposits. Send a mining ship to extract the ore. Haul the raw material back to your station. Process it in a refinery. Feed the refined output into production chains or sell it on the open market. Each step can be optimized, upgraded, and scaled.
Early on, mining is hands-on: one ship, one field, hauling back small loads. As your operation grows, it becomes a logistics puzzle. Multiple ships working different fields. Dedicated haulers running supply routes. Refineries processing around the clock. A well-run mining operation is the engine that powers everything else.
A repeatable cycle that scales from a single ship to a fully automated extraction network.
Send a scout ship or use long-range sensors to survey asteroid fields. Each field has a composition profile showing ore types, density, and estimated yield. Richer fields are farther from populated space, requiring longer haul routes.
Assign a mining ship to a surveyed field. The ship travels to the location and begins extraction automatically. Mining efficiency depends on ship class, equipment tier, and crew skill level. Multiple miners can work the same field simultaneously.
Mining ships use laser drills to fracture asteroids and collect raw ore. Power management matters: run the laser in the optimal range for clean fractures and maximum yield. Overloading wastes energy; underperforming wastes time.
Once the cargo hold is full, the mining ship returns to your station. Dedicated freighters can also be sent to pick up ore, letting the miner stay on-site longer. Haul route efficiency is a key factor in scaling up operations.
Raw ore is fed into your station's refinery modules. Processing takes time and consumes energy, but the output is usable refined materials. Higher-tier refineries yield more material per unit of ore and process faster.
Refined materials flow into production chains. Ship components, station modules, colony supplies, trade goods. Alternatively, sell refined ore directly on the market for steady income. The choice between using and selling defines your economic strategy.
From common metals to anomalous minerals, every deposit class feeds a different tier of your economy.
Iron, Nickel, Copper. Found in abundance across most asteroid fields. Low value per unit but always in demand. The bread and butter of station construction, hull plating, and basic component manufacturing.
Titanium, Tungsten, Chromium. Found in denser asteroid clusters farther from populated space. Medium value with consistent demand. Essential for ship modules, advanced station infrastructure, and colony structural materials.
Power Crystals, Plasma Shards. Locked inside deep-core asteroids that require careful fracturing technique. High market value. Critical for power systems, shield generators, and advanced electronics manufacturing.
Neodymium, Palladium, Iridium. Sparse deposits that appear only in specific field types. Very high value and always in short supply. Used in advanced technology, elite ship upgrades, and experimental research projects.
Water Ice, Ammonia Ice, Methane. Found in the outer belt zones where temperatures drop. Medium value with specialized uses. Essential for fuel production, life support systems, hydroponics, and colony water supplies.
Drift Crystals, Resonance Ore. Rare formations found near anomaly zones. Extremely valuable and sought after by researchers. Used in experimental technology and high-end equipment. Properties not fully understood.
Not all asteroid fields are equal. Inner belt zones close to stations offer safe, predictable yields of common ores. The haul routes are short, the deposits are well-mapped, and the margins are thin but reliable. Good for steady income and keeping production chains fed.
Mid-belt fields hold denser clusters with industrial metals and occasional energy crystal deposits. Longer travel times mean higher fuel costs, but the per-load value increases significantly. This is where a dedicated hauler ship starts paying for itself.
Deep belt and outer rim fields contain the richest deposits: rare earths, anomalous minerals, deep-core energy crystals. These fields are remote, requiring careful route planning and well-equipped ships. The payoff justifies the investment for experienced operators.
From a nimble starter vessel to an industrial excavator that cracks deep-core asteroids.
A small, nimble ship with a basic mining laser and modest cargo hold. Perfect for scouting fields and running early extraction jobs. Low operating cost, fast travel times, and easy to maintain. The starter mining vessel.
The workhorse of any mining operation. Upgraded laser arrays, expanded cargo bays, and built-in ore scanners. Slower than a Prospector but extracts significantly more ore per trip. This is the ship that keeps the refinery running.
An industrial-grade mining platform with multi-laser rigs and massive cargo capacity. Can crack deep-core asteroids that smaller ships cannot touch. Requires crew to operate at peak efficiency. Slow and expensive, but nothing else moves this much ore.
Mining skill progression unlocks efficiency at every stage of the loop. Early upgrades improve scanner range and laser precision, letting you find better deposits and extract more ore per fracture. Mid-tier progression unlocks advanced refining techniques that yield more material from the same raw input.
At higher levels, new asteroid field types become accessible, deep-core fracturing techniques are unlocked, and automated mining operations become possible. A fully skilled mining operation runs like a machine: scouts feeding coordinates to miners, miners filling haulers, haulers feeding refineries, refineries feeding production.
"Start in the inner belt zones. Learn the fracturing rhythm and get comfortable with haul routes before investing in bigger ships."
"A dedicated hauler running loads back to the station while your miner stays on-site will double your throughput overnight."
"Invest in scanner upgrades early. Finding a rare earth deposit instead of another iron cluster is the difference between grinding and growing."
"Match your refinery tier to your ore quality. Running rare earths through a basic refinery wastes material. Upgrade the refinery first, then go after the good stuff."