# Space Elevator & Project Assembly

> Canonical source: [Space Elevator & Project Assembly](https://satisfactorybase.its-live.dev/guides/space-elevator)
> Language: en

Version check pending: The phase-cost and standard-recipe tables are hand-maintained and still need comparison with current schematics and recipes.

The five phases of Project Assembly, the parts each phase needs, the tiers they unlock, and the standard recipe for every Space Elevator part.


The :icon[Desc_SpaceElevator_C] **Space Elevator** unlocks with Tier 0 – HUB Upgrade 6 and is the second building the game asks you to construct after the HUB. It never produces anything itself; instead, each of its five **Project Assembly** phases asks for a quantity of one or more parts, delivered by belt or dropped in by hand. A phase completes only when you confirm it manually, so you can stockpile parts and turn several phases in at once.

## The five phases

| Phase | Name | Parts required | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Distribution Platform | 50 × Smart Plating | Tier 3 + 4 |
| 2 | Construction Dock | 1 000 × Smart Plating, 1 000 × Versatile Framework, 100 × Automated Wiring | Tier 5 + 6 |
| 3 | Main Body | 2 500 × Versatile Framework, 500 × Modular Engine, 100 × Adaptive Control Unit | Tier 7 + 8 |
| 4 | Propulsion | 500 × Assembly Director System, 500 × Magnetic Field Generator, 250 × Thermal Propulsion Rocket, 100 × Nuclear Pasta | Tier 9 |
| 5 | Assembly | 1 000 × Nuclear Pasta, 1 000 × Biochemical Sculptor, 256 × AI Expansion Server, 200 × Ballistic Warp Drive | Ends the game (Launch), grants the "Employee of the Planet" cup |

An **Advanced Game Settings** cost multiplier (1× by default) can scale every phase's requirement up or down for a new save. After Phase 5's launch sequence, the world keeps running as a sandbox and every tier stays unlocked.

## Space Elevator parts (standard recipes)

Every part also has one or more alternate recipes discovered on [Hard Drives](/guides/alternate-recipes); the table below is the default recipe only.

| Part | Building | Standard recipe | Output/min |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Smart Plating](/wiki/items/smart-plating) | Assembler | 1 Reinforced Iron Plate + 1 Rotor → 1 (30 s) | 2 |
| [Versatile Framework](/wiki/items/versatile-framework) | Assembler | 1 Modular Frame + 12 Steel Beam → 2 (24 s) | 5 |
| [Automated Wiring](/wiki/items/automated-wiring) | Assembler | 1 Stator + 20 Cable → 1 (24 s) | 2.5 |
| [Modular Engine](/wiki/items/modular-engine) | Manufacturer | 2 Motor + 15 Rubber + 2 Smart Plating → 1 (60 s) | 1 |
| [Adaptive Control Unit](/wiki/items/adaptive-control-unit) | Manufacturer | 5 Automated Wiring + 5 Circuit Board + 1 Heavy Modular Frame + 2 Computer → 1 (60 s) | 1 |
| [Magnetic Field Generator](/wiki/items/magnetic-field-generator) | Assembler | 5 Versatile Framework + 2 Electromagnetic Control Rod → 2 (120 s) | 1 |
| [Assembly Director System](/wiki/items/assembly-director-system) | Assembler | 2 Adaptive Control Unit + 1 Supercomputer → 1 (80 s) | 0.75 |
| [Thermal Propulsion Rocket](/wiki/items/thermal-propulsion-rocket) | Manufacturer | 5 Modular Engine + 2 Turbo Motor + 6 Cooling System + 2 Fused Modular Frame → 2 (120 s) | 1 |
| [Nuclear Pasta](/wiki/items/nuclear-pasta) | Particle Accelerator | 200 Copper Powder + 1 Pressure Conversion Cube → 1 (120 s) | 0.5 |
| [Biochemical Sculptor](/wiki/items/biochemical-sculptor) | Blender | 1 Assembly Director System + 80 Ficsite Trigon + 20 m³ Water → 4 (120 s) | 2 |
| [Ballistic Warp Drive](/wiki/items/ballistic-warp-drive) | Manufacturer | 1 Thermal Propulsion Rocket + 5 Singularity Cell + 2 Superposition Oscillator + 40 Dark Matter Crystal → 1 (60 s) | 1 |
| [AI Expansion Server](/wiki/items/ai-expansion-server) | Quantum Encoder | 1 Magnetic Field Generator + 1 Neural-Quantum Processor + 1 Superposition Oscillator + 25 m³ Excited Photonic Matter → 1 (15 s) | 4 |

Nuclear Pasta, Biochemical Sculptor and Ballistic Warp Drive all run in machines with a **variable power range of 500–1 500 MW**, and AI Expansion Server's Quantum Encoder ranges **0–2 000 MW** – budget generator capacity generously before starting phase 4 or 5.

## Planning around the phases

Phase 1 (50 Smart Plating) finishes in about 25 minutes from a single Assembler running at 2/min. Phase 2 is the first real jump: at 2/min per Assembler, 1 000 Smart Plating takes roughly 8.3 hours from a single machine, while 1 000 Versatile Framework at 5/min per Assembler takes about 3.3 hours – so most players run 4–8 Smart Plating Assemblers alongside a couple of Versatile Framework lines rather than waiting on one of each. Phase 3's 2 500 Versatile Framework alone is 500 Assembler-minutes at the standard 5/min rate.

Phases 4 and 5 lean on the aluminium, nuclear, particle and quantum production chains introduced from Tier 8 onward; a [Somersloop](/wiki/collectibles/somersloops) in the final assembler of a chain doubles its output without adding another machine, which matters once individual parts are worth hundreds of thousands of sink points each.


- [Tiers & Milestones](/guides/tiers-milestones)

- [AWESOME Shop](/guides/awesome-shop)

- [Nuclear Pasta](/wiki/items/nuclear-pasta)

- [Alternate recipes & Hard Drives](/guides/alternate-recipes)