Economy & production
Construction, Yard & Research queues
Learn which orders share a queue, when payment and work begin, and what you lose when cancelling an order.
How it works
Each planet has separate Construction and Yard queues. Buildings, instruments and satellites use Construction. Ships and ground defences use the Yard. Each queue works on one order at a time and can hold a limited number of orders.
Research has one separate queue shared across your planets. Paying from another planet does not start a second queue. Ship repairs use another queue; colony fault repairs are a separate process.
You pay when placing an order. A queued order begins after the one ahead of it finishes. Requirements and capacity must permit the order. An earlier queued building or research can satisfy a later order’s prerequisite.
Your next decision
Cancelling Construction or Yard orders refunds only the share in the table below; the rest is lost. Started research cannot be cancelled. Check the order’s current state before deciding to cancel.
AI Robots shortens new Construction orders. Yard Automation shortens new mobile-ship orders, including Prospectors. It does not speed up ground defences. Neither research adds queue space or lowers resource prices.
Reference values
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Orders per queue, including the active order | 3 |
| Cancellation refund | 50% |