The money that matters changes as you progress. Early on, flags ($100), survey sites ($250) and finished hexes ($10) beat sweeping alone; later, turning dust into moon stone pays seven times as much per kilogram as selling it raw. Market Contracts raises every sale, so buy it as soon as you can.
What each source pays
- Raw dust: about $1 per kilogram at the start, paid when it reaches the station's deposit machine or a hub belt port.
- Moon sand: three times the dust price, made by a Pressure chamber.
- Moon stone: seven times the dust price, made by a Stone press from equal parts dust and sand.
- Finished hex: $10 for a fully cleaned hex in an early run; the Region Bounty upgrade adds $15 for every region you complete.
- Flags: $100 each, 195 on the map.
- Lunar survey sites: $250 each, 26 on the map.
- Vehicle trick shots: small rewards for landing flips off a ramp, such as $19 and $43.
- Demolishing: about 75% of the build price back.
Best money at each stage
With a brush, the one-time rewards are worth more than your sweeping. One flag equals a hundred kilograms of hand-swept dust at the starting price, and one stands just to the right of the station when you face Earth.
Together the 195 flags and 26 survey sites hold $26,000, a one-time pot that pays for a lot of early equipment. Sites take longer to reach, so collect them once a vehicle lets you clean along the way.
Once machines run, processing is where income grows. A Stone press makes 2 kg of stone every 6 seconds, or 20 kg a minute. At seven times the starting dust price that is about $140 a minute, against $20 if those 20 kg had been sold as plain dust. It only reaches that rate when both dust and sand keep arriving and its 18 kW of power holds.
Raise every sale with Market Contracts
Market Contracts is the upgrade that lifts all income: level 1 costs $120 and adds 6% to every kilogram you launch, and it needs Collector Uplink unlocked first. Later levels cost more, so check the price and bonus shown before each one. Player guides list it first, ahead of the section bonus, Supplier Network and the other economy upgrades.
How selling by belt works
Since patch 1.0.3, dust and stone that reach the hub on a belt are paid as they arrive, and the deposit intake pays exactly the amount its screen shows. Launch-week posts saying stone and sand never sold by belt describe the game before that patch.
A single hub accepts at most 12 belts, so big factories have to merge lines before they reach it. Before 1.0.4 the map understated what a finished section paid, Region Bounty included; that display is now correct.
Is sand worth making on its own?
Sand sells for three times dust, but players disagree on how much sand a Pressure chamber returns per kilogram of dust: one reported a loss, another a one-to-one swap. Run a small batch and compare your balance before you build a line that ends at sand. Stone is the safer target, since the press uses that sand together with fresh dust.
What a demolish refund gives back
Removing a building returns about three quarters of its price: a $200 structure returned $150 in one test, and players report roughly 75% in general. Check the removal preview before you tear down anything expensive.
Costs that eat into earnings
Teleporting between stations costs $50 each time, and Market Contracts levels after the first cost more than $120. Count both before you rely on them for travel or income.