Station Upgrades

Station Upgrades are the Space Station improvement tasks that expand or improve core infrastructure such as the Hull, Solar Panels, and Construction Drone Bay. They are completed through construction drone work, and each upgrade consumes station resources and time before its benefits become active. In practice, these upgrades are the main way to raise the station’s durability, power generation, and construction throughput over the course of progression.

Most station upgrades are arranged in a linear chain with clear prerequisites. Early repairs unlock stronger structural work later, while some branches also require related station projects to be finished first. For example, Hull improvements begin with Emergency repairs, then proceed through General Repairs, Structural Improvements, and Hull Expansion. Solar Panel upgrades start with Repair Solar Panels and then continue through Install Solar Array #1 to #9 before unlocking the repeatable Extend Solar Panels upgrade. The Construction Drone Bay follows the same pattern: Repair Construction Drone Bay unlocks Construction Drone Bay Extension 1 and 2, after which Improve Construction Drones becomes an infinite upgrade.

Several upgrades are noteworthy because they directly affect station performance. Hull upgrades increase the robustness of the station structure itself, while Solar Panel upgrades add more power output, starting at 20 MW for the earliest repairs and later rising to 30 MW, 40 MW, and finally 50 MW per repeatable extension. Construction Drone Bay upgrades increase the number of construction drones by 25 each time, which shortens the expected completion time for all construction tasks that rely on those drones. This scaling is especially important because the construction time formula behaves like an inverse relationship: more drones mean faster completion, but repeated upgrades have diminishing returns and higher power and material costs.

A few practical points are worth keeping in mind:

• The Construction Drone Bay is especially valuable early, because each upgrade adds 25 drones and can dramatically cut build times.
• Improve Construction Drones can be repeated indefinitely, but each level costs more and consumes more power.
• Some upgrades are gated not only by station progress but also by other module projects, such as Antenna repairs, Sales Platform construction, or Space Ship Hanger repairs.
• Repeatable Solar Panel and Drone Bay extensions become increasingly expensive, so it is efficient to prioritize the upgrades that solve your current bottleneck first: power, durability, or build speed.

Overall, Station Upgrades define the long-term growth of the Space Station by turning a basic platform into a more capable and efficient base.