Space · How it works
Lunar industry
Moon ores into metals, glass, concrete and propellants, each route better than the Earth's.
In the game
How to get it
Furnace: ilmenite gives 2 titanium for 4 coal, meteoric iron 2 steel without coal, anorthosite (on a cable) 2 aluminium, regolith 32 glass. Gas plant: Moon ice gives liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Mixer: regolith and water make concrete.
What it is for
Refuel and build on the Moon without carrying anything from the Earth: the Moon base.
Why it exists
Every Moon route beats the Earth's: a base there pays for itself.
The same text the game shows in its progress tree and on the item's sheet (I).
| Moon matter | Where | Machine | Gives | Earth route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilmenite | under the dark seas | Furnace, 4 coal, 15 s | 2 titanium ingots | 1 ingot, 8 coal |
| Meteoric iron | crater walls and ejecta | Furnace, no coal, 10 s | 2 steel ingots | iron + coal twice |
| Anorthosite | highlands | Furnace on a cable, 10 s | 2 aluminium ingots | 1 ingot from bauxite |
| Regolith | everywhere | Furnace, 8 s | 32 glass | 16 from sand |
| Moon ice | ice fields, polar caves | gas plant, 30 s | LOX + LH2 dewars | two machines |
| Regolith + water | concrete mixer | 1 m³ concrete | cement and gravel | |
| Helium-3 | veins, lodes, dustbacks | any fire | fuel 4 times coal |
Titanium ore also lies shallow on the Moon (2 to 60 m, against 90 to 200 m on Earth). Machines run on the Moon too; pumps do not.
On the progress path
LU3MoonMain path
- BeforeLU2 · Lunar creatures
- This stepLU3 · Lunar industry
- NextLU4 · Lunite: crater walls
Items of this step
- Titanium (ilmenite)
- Meteoric steel
- Aluminium (anorthosite)
- Regolith glass
- Ice propellants
- Regolith concrete
Sub-actions (counted in your progress)