Tech tree
All 72 nodes, by tier: what each one costs, what it needs first and what it puts in your palette.
Read a row like this. Price is what the node costs, in discovery. Needs lists the nodes you must already own. Puts in the palette names the parts by the name the palette gives them. A tier is buyable only while your Research Centre reaches it: level 1 for tier 1, level 2 for tier 2, and so on up to level 5 for tier 5.
Tier 1
| Node | Price | Needs | Puts in the palette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerodynamics | 12 discovery | — | Aerocone |
| Wings | 24 discovery | — | Wing |
| Staging | 18 discovery | — | Separator |
| Instruments | 15 discovery | — | Thermometer |
| Solid Boosters | 20 discovery | — | Solid Booster, Solid Booster S, Slim Aerocone |
| Structures | 22 discovery | — | BX-1 Girder |
| Logistics | 20 discovery | — | Cargo Bay |
Tier 2
| Node | Price | Needs | Puts in the palette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 30 discovery | Aerodynamics | Drogue Chute |
| Radial Staging | 35 discovery | Staging | Decoupler, Separation Motor |
| Probe Control | 40 discovery | Staging | Sat Controller |
| Landing Gear | 50 discovery | Staging | LT-1 Landing Strut |
| Barometry | 32 discovery | Instruments | Barometer |
| Payload Bay | 48 discovery | Barometry | Payload Bay |
| Solar Power | 38 discovery | Probe Control | SP-1 Solar Panel |
| Batteries | 34 discovery | Probe Control | PB-20 Battery, B-90 Battery |
| Thermal Protection | 45 discovery | Recovery | Heat Shield |
| Vacuum Engines | 55 discovery | Staging | Vacuum Engine |
| Attitude Control | 48 discovery | Probe Control | RCS Thruster Block, HR-1 Hypergolic Sphere |
| Lander Engines | 42 discovery | Vacuum Engines | Lander Engine |
| Crew Capsules | 45 discovery | Staging | Crew Capsule |
| Radio Comms | 36 discovery | Probe Control | CW-1 Whip, CR-1 Relay Whip |
| Heavy Structures | 40 discovery | Structures | BX-4 Truss |
| Stack Trusses | 30 discovery | Heavy Structures | BX-6 Stack Truss |
| Ground Imaging | 40 discovery | Probe Control, Instruments | GI-1 Ground Imager |
| Flight Termination | 25 discovery | Staging | FTS Charge |
| Ring Frames | 34 discovery | Stack Trusses | BR-4 Square Frame, BR-6 Hex Frame, BR-8 Octa Frame |
| Spectrometry | 55 discovery | Barometry | Mass Spectrometer |
| Lighting | 28 discovery | Batteries | SL-1 Signal Light, FL-30 Floodlight |
| Aviation | 45 discovery | Wings | PR-9 Propeller Nose, CK-1 Cockpit, FS-1 Fuselage, PW-1 Aircraft Wing, TL-1 Tail, LG-1 Landing Gear |
Aviation sells a whole aeroplane at once: all six parts of the Planes tab. Flying one needs no other node, and the runway it takes off from already lies beside your Launch Pad. See Flying an aeroplane. Its LG-1 Landing Gear is a wheel for an aeroplane; the node called Landing Gear above sells the LT-1 Landing Strut, which is not.
Tier 3
| Node | Price | Needs | Puts in the palette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Gear | 70 discovery | Landing Gear | LT-2 Landing Strut |
| Booster Recovery | 60 discovery | Heavy Gear | GF-1 Grid Fin |
| Solar Arrays | 35 discovery | Solar Power | SP-3 Solar Array |
| Power Banks | 65 discovery | Batteries | B-400 Battery Bank, RTG-1 Radioisotope Generator |
| Hypergolic Storage | 60 discovery | Attitude Control | HT-2 Hypergolic Tank, HR-4 Hypergolic Pod |
| Docking | 70 discovery | Attitude Control | Docking Port |
| Grappling | 65 discovery | Docking | Grappling Claw |
| Heavy Engines | 75 discovery | Vacuum Engines | Heavy Engine |
| Passenger Cabins | 60 discovery | Crew Capsules | Passenger Cabin |
| Escape Motors | 68 discovery | Hypergolic Storage, Crew Capsules | Escape Motor |
| Payload Fairings | 62 discovery | Payload Bay | Payload Fairing |
| Contoured Fairings | 70 discovery | Payload Fairings | Contoured Fairing |
| Reusable Heat Tiles | 75 discovery | Thermal Protection | Heat Tiles |
| Reaction Wheels | 55 discovery | Attitude Control, Power Banks | RW-100 Reaction Wheel |
| Deep Space Comms | 65 discovery | Radio Comms | CD-2 Dish, CR-2 Relay Dish |
| Interplanetary Comms | 78 discovery | Deep Space Comms | CD-3 Deep Space Dish, CR-3 Deep Space Relay |
| Bigger Solar | 35 discovery | Solar Arrays | SP-6 Twin Array |
| Greenhouses | 80 discovery | Passenger Cabins, Bigger Solar | Greenhouse |
| Ion Propulsion | 90 discovery | Bigger Solar, Vacuum Engines | Ion Engine, XT-1 Xenon Tank |
| Station Rings | 60 discovery | Ring Frames | BR-12 Dodeca Frame, BR-16 Round Frame |
| Jet Flight | 65 discovery | Aviation | AI-1 Air Intake, JE-1 Jet Engine, JT-1 Jet Tail, SW-1 Supersonic Wing |
| Helium-3 Prospecting | 55 discovery | Landing Gear, Ground Imaging | MR-4 Mining Rig, H3-4 Helium-3 Tank |
| Antimatter Containment | 60 discovery | Helium-3 Prospecting, Power Banks | AM-4 Antimatter Container |
| Antimatter Synthesis | 65 discovery | Antimatter Containment | AC-4 Antimatter Converter |
Jet Flight makes an aeroplane a jet: an intake for the nose, a jet engine, a tail with a jet built into it, and a thin wing that flies only fast. It needs Aviation's parts around it, and a Launch Pad at level 2 to fly from. See Build a jet.
The last three rows are the small mine, bought in the order it runs: a rig and a tank for the Moon, a trap, and the converter that fills it. Nothing on this tier burns antimatter; it is here so that the fuel exists before the drive does.
Tier 4
The probe's warp. Three nodes, bought in a line, and the first of them needs Antimatter Synthesis from tier 3, so no drive is on sale before you can make its fuel. With these a radio probe warps to Mars on antimatter from your own mine.
| Node | Price | Needs | Puts in the palette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antimatter Power | 70 discovery | Antimatter Synthesis | AR-4 Antimatter Reactor |
| Heat Rejection | 50 discovery | Antimatter Power | RW-3 Water Radiator |
| Warp Theory | 90 discovery | Heat Rejection, Probe Control | WC-4 Warp Coil |
Tier 5
The wide stack and what it carries. Almost every part here is 8 m across, twice the diameter of everything below it, and the Research Centre's fifth level is what opens the band. The two hot radiators are the exception: fins bolt to any flank.
| Node | Price | Needs | Puts in the palette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide Stacks | 90 discovery | Heavy Engines | Fuel Tank L, Adapter, Separator L, Aerocone L |
| Wide Storage | 80 discovery | Wide Stacks, Power Banks | Cargo Bay L, B-1600 Battery Bank, RW-500 Reaction Wheel |
| Wide Engines | 105 discovery | Wide Stacks | Giant Engine, Quad Cluster |
| Heavy Lift | 120 discovery | Wide Engines | Nine Cluster, Vacuum Engine L |
| Wide Greenhouses | 105 discovery | Greenhouses, Wide Storage | Greenhouse L |
| Wide Capsules | 100 discovery | Passenger Cabins, Wide Stacks | Crew Capsule L, Heat Shield L |
| Wide Ion Propulsion | 110 discovery | Ion Propulsion, Wide Stacks | Ion Engine L, XT-8 Xenon Tank |
| Helium-3 Mining | 100 discovery | Helium-3 Prospecting, Wide Storage | MR-8 Mining Rig, H3-8 Helium-3 Tank |
| Antimatter Conversion | 120 discovery | Helium-3 Mining, Antimatter Synthesis | AC-8 Antimatter Converter, AM-8 Antimatter Container |
| High-Temperature Radiators | 120 discovery | Heat Rejection | RK-6 Potassium Radiator, RS-8 Sodium Radiator |
| Warp Rings | 160 discovery | Warp Theory, Crewed Reactors, High-Temperature Radiators | WR-8 Warp Ring |
| Warp Lattices | 190 discovery | Warp Rings | WL-8 Warp Lattice |
| Wide Fairings | 90 discovery | Contoured Fairings, Wide Stacks | Payload Fairing L, Contoured Fairing L, Payload Bay L |
| Ultra-Wide Fairings | 100 discovery | Wide Fairings | Ultra-Wide Fairing |
| Orbital Science | 140 discovery | Wide Storage, Interplanetary Comms | SL-8 Science Lab |
| Crewed Reactors | 120 discovery | Antimatter Power, Wide Stacks | AR-8 Antimatter Reactor |
The wide mine is here, bought in the order it runs. The mine: Helium-3 Mining, then Antimatter Conversion, which sells the wide factory and the big AM-8 trap it fills. Then the crewed warp ships: Crewed Reactors for the AR-8, High-Temperature Radiators for the fins that shed into a hot wall, and the two big bubbles. Warp Lattices is the dearest node on the tree; Warp Rings needs three others.
The radiators branch matters more than its price suggests. Heat Rejection is on the way to every warp drive, and High-Temperature Radiators is not optional if you mean to reach a Warp Lattice: its sodium fin is the only one that sheds anything into a Lattice's wall.
What the whole tree costs
| Tier | Nodes | Discovery | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 8 | 131 | Research Centre level 1 |
| Tier 2 | 22 | 875 | Research Centre level 2 |
| Tier 3 | 23 | 1,478 | Research Centre level 3 |
| Tier 4 | 3 | 210 | Research Centre level 4 |
| Tier 5 | 16 | 1,850 | Research Centre level 5 |
| All of it | 72 | 4,544 | Research Centre level 5 |
The Research Centre's own levels are priced separately, in discovery and credits both: see Buildings.