mining Tech Comparison
Asteroid Belt Harvesting vs Nano-Sifters
Comparing the Asteroid Belt Harvesting (Tier 2) and Nano-Sifters (Tier 3), both mining technologies in Starforge MMO. Use this to decide which to queue first when your research lab can only run one project at a time.
Research Comparison
| Attribute | Asteroid Belt Harvesting | Nano-Sifters |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | T2 | T3 |
| Research time | 5▼ | 10 |
| metal cost | 6,000▼ | 18,000 |
| crystal cost | 3,000▼ | 9,000 |
| gas cost | — | 3,000▼ |
| Effect | +15% metal production | unlocks resource: rare earth |
▼ marks the lower resource / time cost. Cheaper isn't always better — weigh it against the effect each tech unlocks.
Asteroid Belt Harvesting
Automated drones strip-mine asteroid belts with no crew risk. +15% metal output.
Unlocks buildings: asteroid harvester
Unlocks ships: mining drone mk1
Requires: mining 1
Nano-Sifters
Molecular-scale filtration extracts rare trace elements from ore. Unlocks rare-earth resource.
Unlocks buildings: nano sifter plant
Requires: mining 2
Which Should You Research First?
The Asteroid Belt Harvesting is the lower-tier prerequisite step and typically comes first in the mining branch, opening the path toward Nano-Sifters.