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Missions

Missions

Fleet missions are how you move ships, start battles, move resources, expand, and interact with deep space. The safest way to learn them is to understand three layers:

  • what the mission is for
  • whether the fleet comes back automatically
  • whether the mission uses normal travel or a deep-space hold phase

Mission Types

Galaxy Transfers and Infiltration are not active in production.

NPC empire automation is held in production. Generated Nomad, Raider, Alien and Unknown encounters on deep-space missions are mission outcomes, not proof that autonomous NPC empires are active.

Frontier Expeditions are a separate turn-based exploration game. It commits real ships: recover salvage and discoveries, but ships destroyed during an expedition are lost.

Mission Returns Main Use
Attack Yes Fight fleets and defenses
ACS Attack Yes Fight as a coordinated group
Transport Yes Move resources
Deployment No Station a fleet permanently
ACS Defend Yes, after hold Station a fleet on an ally
Espionage Yes Generate a spy report
Establish Station Heavy Freighter consumed; escorts return Create a new station
Harvest Yes Collect debris
Moon Destruction Unavailable in station mode Historical moon mission
Missile Attack No Launch IPMs
Patrol Yes Deep-space combat control
Trade Yes Deep-space resource conversion
Recon Yes Deep-space repeated spying
Exploration Yes Deep-space finds and risks

Standard Missions

Attack

  • fights the target's fleet and defenses
  • can loot resources if the attacker wins
  • can create debris from destroyed ships

See Battle Mechanics before sending large attacks.

ACS Attack

  • multiple friendly fleets join one attack
  • all fleets share one arrival time
  • a slower joining fleet can delay the group, but only within the ACS timing rules

Transport

  • sends resources to a target
  • the fleet comes home after unloading
  • always travels at 100%, without a Fuel Cell speed boost

Deployment

  • permanently stations the fleet at the destination
  • does not auto-return
  • always travels at 100%, without a Fuel Cell speed boost

ACS Defend

  • stations a fleet on an ally
  • returns after its hold window if it is not recalled or destroyed
  • always travels at 100%, without a Fuel Cell speed boost

Espionage

  • sends probes directly to a target
  • returns with a spy report if successful
  • always notifies the target through activity detection
  • In 3.0.5, reports preserve the target's identity, activity and visible inventory at scan time. Older saved scans remain readable after the target changes or disappears, including retired-facility entries. Check when a report was generated rather than assuming its target details are still current.

Establish Station

  • requires a Heavy Freighter
  • consumes the Heavy Freighter on success
  • creates a new station if the slot and your capacity are valid

Harvest

  • collects debris fields
  • requires at least one Recycler or Reaper
  • can target debris-only coordinates even when no planet is present in the slot
  • can launch partial harvest trips with any number of available Recyclers or Reapers
  • returns the recovered resources
  • always travels at 100%, without a Fuel Cell speed boost

Moon Destruction

Unavailable in current station mode. Old reports can retain this mission type.

Missile Attack

  • launches Interplanetary Missiles
  • targets enemy stations
  • ABMs intercept one IPM each
  • does not use a fleet slot

Deep-Space Missions

Patrol, Trade, Recon, and Exploration all work the same way at a high level:

  • they target deep space at position 16
  • they require hold time to do anything useful
  • after arrival, they enter an internal hold phase
  • they process outcomes on repeated ticks
  • they return home after the hold ends if the fleet survives

Each one also fills a different focus role:

  • Patrol / Military controls contested systems. It is strongest against enemy long holds, but it risks real combat and needs enough fleet strength to win contact.
  • Trade / Industry turns carried resources into higher-value output. It is strongest when protected and cargo-rich, but it is exposed during long holds.
  • Recon / Intelligence reveals targets, reports, and active deep-space missions. It is strongest when enemies are hiding activity, but it earns less from quiet systems.
  • Exploration / Explorer finds independent rewards away from politics. It has strong upside, but it carries expedition variance and hostile-contact risk.

Patrol

  • combat-focused deep-space control mission
  • rolls for hostile encounters
  • can also intercept enemy Trade, Recon, and Exploration holds
  • can also rarely intercept Exchange convoys whose in-flight route crosses the patrol system

Read: Patrol

Trade

  • repeatedly converts one carried resource into a different one
  • each successful tick sells 25% of the remaining sell cargo
  • uses live Exchange ratios plus a random bonus

Read: Trade

Recon

  • repeatedly looks for hostile stations in the chosen system
  • can generate full espionage-style reports
  • Fuel Cells and Recon Technology raise the separate active-mission manifest reveal chance
  • Recon Technology also improves positive Recon reward amounts

Read: Recon

Exploration

  • high-variance deep-space mission
  • can find resources, find ships, lose the fleet, or trigger a hostile combat encounter
  • Wayfinders are required

Read: Exploration

Fuel Cell Mission Boosts

Fuel Cells can improve deep-space rewards, but never travel speed.

Speed Boost Missions

Travel speed boosts are removed. All new fleets travel at 100% and pay normal deuterium fuel. Legacy boost requests spend no Fuel Cells.

Reward Boost Missions

These missions use the reward-style Fuel Cell system, but the exact effect depends on the mission:

  • Patrol
  • Trade
  • Recon
  • Exploration

Reward missions share the same 500 Fuel Cells total per calendar day cap with Sensor Phalanx scans and Jump Gate activations, but each mission has its own useful launch spend:

  • Patrol: Fuel Cells cap at 2x debris without increasing hostile encounter size
  • Trade: spends up to 100 Fuel Cells for up to 6x on the random trade bonus, not on the full conversion
  • Recon: spends up to 500 Fuel Cells to improve positive Recon reward amounts and raise active mission manifest reveal chance; Recon Technology adds +10% positive Recon rewards and +1 percentage point manifest chance per level, with manifest chance capped at 25%
  • Exploration: spends up to 500 Fuel Cells for the full reward ladder on resource and ship finds, while hostile encounter debris caps the Fuel Cell portion at 2x and encounter size stays unchanged

Read: Fleet Mechanics and Fuel Cell

Fleet Slots

Every empire starts with 5 fleet slots. Computer Technology adds 2 at level 1; completed five-level tiers increase this bonus, with whole-number rounding. Missile attacks do not occupy fleet slots.

Deep-space families also have separate caps. Patrol and Trade each have one dedicated slot; Recon Technology and Wayfinder Research increase Recon and Exploration capacity respectively. Their level-1 bonuses add one slot, while higher retained levels follow rounded progression. The current Research quote shows which levels are available.

A fleet uses capacity through launch, hold and return until it finishes. Check the Launch Pad's displayed used/maximum counts before planning another mission.

Where To Read Next

  • Fleet Mechanics - Travel time, fuel, cargo, and Fuel Cell boost formulas
  • Standard Missions - Attack, transport, deployment, espionage, colonisation, harvest, moon destruction, and missiles
  • Battle Mechanics - Combat rules
  • Patrol - Deep-space combat control
  • Trade - Deep-space conversion mission
  • Recon - Deep-space intelligence mission
  • Exploration - Deep-space risk and reward