To establish a colony in a new star system, you need a colony ship. Build one at any colony with a shipyard, then send it to an uncolonized habitable planet.
Colony Ships
Colony ships are unarmed transport vessels designed to carry settlers and supplies. When they arrive at a habitable planet, they are converted into the colony's initial infrastructure.
Auto Colony Dispatch
When viewing an uncolonized habitable planet, you can click "Build & Send Colony Ship" to automate the entire process. The game finds your nearest shipyard, queues a colony ship build, and once complete, automatically sends the ship to colonize the target world.
- Requires colony ship technology and at least one shipyard with build capacity.
- The nearest shipyard with available queue space and sufficient population is chosen automatically.
- Build progress and transit status are shown on the target planet's card.
- If the target is colonized by another faction before your ship arrives, the ship remains idle at the destination.
Choosing a World
- Check habitability for your faction before sending a colony ship.
- Higher habitability planets grow faster and produce more.
- Look for systems with multiple habitable planets for migration potential.
- Mineral and gaia worlds offer excellent resource bonuses.
Logistics Penalty
Colonies far from your other territories suffer a logistics penalty that reduces all resource output. The penalty is based on how many star system hops separate the colony from your nearest other colony.
- 0-1 hops from nearest colony: No penalty.
- 2 hops away: -10% output.
- 3 hops away: -20% output.
- 4 hops away: -30% output.
- Maximum penalty: -50% output for very remote colonies.
- Expanding along connected starlanes keeps your territory efficient.
- The logistics penalty is shown in the colony detail panel.