Space Station Commander

Space Station Commander — Quick Start

Your goal is to grow a remote deep-space station from a single docking bay into a thriving galactic hub. Credits come from servicing visiting ships; spend them on bays, upgrades, crew, and eventually new outposts.

• Ships: Ships enter the system and fall into an elliptical holding orbit around your station. They'll wait patiently for a free bay - watch the orbit ring for incoming traffic. Most dock automatically once a bay opens. Tap any orbiting ship to see its details and fee.
• Tug ships: display a purple TUG label - they have failed thrusters and can't dock under their own power. Tap them once to dispatch a repair drone as a tugboat. If no pilots are free, hire more in the Supply tab.
• Emergency ships: (orange flashing ring, countdown timer) will explode if not docked in time. Tap immediately to send a tug.
• Bays: The Bays tab shows your docking grid. Tap a bay to select it, then tap a ship to reassign it. Upgrade bays for faster service. Buy more bays as income grows - the station arms and the detail view (🛸) update to show them all.
• Asteroids: A belt of asteroids orbits the star. Tap any asteroid to dispatch a mining drone immediately (if pilots are available), or to blast it with defence turrets. Salvage floats free after destruction - tap the debris to collect it.
• Planets: Tap any planet to order supplies. A freighter travels out, loads up, and returns - watch its progress on the map. Planets also send passive pixel traffic toward the station, which trickles free resources over time.

Tabs:

BAYS: Bay status, orbit queue, hull repairs

SHIPS: All traffic, debris, faction standings

SUPPLY: Resources, crew hire/fire, planet orders

BUILD: Station upgrades, Galactic Exchange stocks

QUESTS: Active goals and rewards

Upgrades worth prioritising:

• Comms Array - lets more ships queue at once
• Police Wing - intercepts hostiles before they attack
• Drone Bay - faster drones, more simultaneous pilots
• Defense Turrets - auto-shoots attackers and nearby asteroids

Zoom & Pan: Scroll wheel or +/− buttons to zoom. Right-click drag (desktop) or two-finger drag (mobile) to pan. ⊙ snaps to the station; ↺ resets the view.

Prestige: Once you've served enough ships, the Build tab unlocks Ascend: reset the station in a fresh star system for a permanent +15% revenue bonus. Systems occasionally spawn around a black hole, where relativistic time dilation slows nearby ships and periodic flares damage exposed vessels.