Operating a moon network

Unlock each tool for a specific job

Build these facilities on moons, not planets. Hyperspace Technology and Hyperspace Drive are different researches: the gate prerequisite is Technology 7. Open the technology tree before transporting a large construction budget.

Use a Jump Gate without stranding the fleet

1. Confirm that the selected location is the origin moon, both gates are completed and ready, and the ships you need have actually landed there.
2. Inspect the destination moon before jumping. Put enough Deuterium there for the next ordinary flight, plus any reserve required by your plan.
3. Open the Jump Gate, select your destination moon and enter the ships to transfer. Check the quantities rather than assuming that every ship was selected.
4. Confirm the jump, then inspect the destination fleet and the origin’s remaining ships. The transfer is instantaneous and consumes no jump fuel.
5. Check the cooldown at both endpoints. If the next step is an attack, transport or fleetsave, dispatch it separately and verify its events.

Use the current cooldown, not an old wiki shortcut

Both endpoints enter cooldown after a jump. Published 2025 player measurements report 60 minutes at gate level 1 in a 1 × war-fleet-speed universe and 30 minutes at 2 × . These are observations, not an official timing formula: use both gates’ displayed ready timers. Higher gate levels reduce cooldown, but it is not simply 60 minutes divided by gate level.

The live 12.0.27 release on 23 January 2025 added the maximum effective upgrade level to the technology information. The updated description quoted on the official forum states level 9. The older Buildings tutorial’s level-15 / 10-minute claim is outdated.

Player measurements published in January 2025 found approximately 53:12 at level 2, 35:44 at level 5 and 19:29 at level 9 in 1 × war speed, with no further reduction above 9. These are reported observations, not an official exact timing formula. Use the actual ready timer for operations rather than a fitted polynomial.

Run a scan with a question in mind

A phalanx scan costs 5,000 Deuterium at the scanning moon. Select that moon, open Galaxy, locate an eligible planet and use the phalanx action. Interface labels differ between desktop and mobile. Read the mission, endpoints and server arrival time together; the timer alone is not enough.

Decide what you are trying to learn before paying: whether a particular arrival exists, whether the fleet is outbound or returning, or whether its timing has changed. Keep a manual record of the observation time when coordinating with allies. A scan is a snapshot, not a permanent subscription to the target’s movements.

Calculate the basic coverage

Without class or Lifeform modifiers, range in systems to either side is L² − 1, where L is the Phalanx level. Level 1 therefore covers the moon’s own system, not zero planets. The total span on a sufficiently large non-wrapping map is 2 × range + 1 systems.

For a moon in 2:200, Phalanx 4 has base range 15 and covers systems 185 through 215 in galaxy 2, including both endpoints. It does not scan galaxy 1 or 3.

Ask which planet can be scanned

Phalanx targets planets, not moons or debris fields. Visibility depends on the mission and the scanned endpoint. In particular, an outbound Deployment appears at its destination planet, not its origin; a recalled Deployment is absent from phalanx. Other returns to a planet can be visible at that planet.

This compact matrix describes the ordinary mission patterns. Moon destruction and redirection can change the endpoints, so reassess rather than treating the original route as permanent.

Account for the map and temporary restrictions

When circular solar systems are enabled, phalanx coverage wraps within the same galaxy. On a 499-system circular map, systems 499 and 1 are neighbours. A level-2 base range of 3 at system 499 covers 496, 497, 498, 499, 1, 2 and 3. Circular galaxies alone do not enable this system wrap, and phalanx does not cross a galaxy boundary.

Live version 9.2.1, on 9 March 2023, prevented a moon’s phalanx from being used while combat against that moon is being calculated. A failed scan at that moment does not establish that the target fleet vanished. Check the cause before changing a timed plan.

Build an operating routine around the tools

1. Before logging off, list every valuable fleet that will land, including cargo returning from supplying your moon network.
2. Keep a fuel reserve at the moons you expect to use. Do not depend on a gate to move resources in an emergency.
3. Check both gates’ availability and the destination’s fleet status before committing to a response. Gate mobility only helps after ships are present and the gate is ready.
4. Use moon-to-moon deployments as part of a considered fleetsave plan, with a return or recall you can supervise. Read the fleetsaving guide for the full procedure.
5. Follow current game rules. Do not use unapproved automation or attempts to obstruct another player’s phalanx or fleet controls.

The gate timer is local to the route

Both endpoints participate in a jump, so a ready third gate does not make a just-used middle gate ready again. Before a planned A → B → C move, check all three displayed timers and leave enough time for B’s cooldown.

Higher gate levels can be useful for a busy network. They are much less valuable when you use a moon once a day. Compare the next level’s cost, moon field and construction time with the actual minutes it saves on the endpoint that constrains you.

The current-description quotation identifies level 9 as the effective upgrade limit. Keep old level 15 claims and fitted cooldown polynomials out of dispatch planning. War fleet speed affects gate cooldown; economy speed and expedition peaceful speed are different settings. Use the ready display for the final decision.

Keep a separate resource route

A gate transfers ships without jump fuel, but it does not carry Metal, Crystal or Deuterium. Supplying a moon and moving the combat fleet are therefore two separate jobs. If the cargo ships transport resources, they also create a return flight; if they deploy, the ships remain at the destination.

Keep enough fuel at each intended operating moon for the flight that follows the jump, including a safe departure if the original plan is cancelled. A remote gate with no flight fuel can move ships into a trap rather than solve a logistics problem.

An illustrative fuel reserve starts at 120,000 Deuterium. Planned scans require 30,000 and the next launch requires 70,000, leaving 20,000. If the emergency departure you want to preserve requires 40,000, the plan is 20,000 short before any surprise occurs. Reduce scans, supply more fuel or change the route first.

A missing movement is a question, not a conclusion

A phalanx scan is a momentary observation of eligible movements. A movement can be absent because the mission is not visible at that endpoint, a Deployment was recalled, the fleet has landed, or the scan failed. These explanations require different responses.

Read the mission and endpoint types before converting a timer into an arrival claim. Do not infer cargo from the ship count, and do not treat a fleet’s absence on one planet as proof it returned safely to a moon.

For expensive or tightly timed decisions, preserve the observation time and recheck while action is still possible. Avoid unsupported guarantees about precisely how many seconds another player needs to escape; connection delay, interface state and server processing make those claims unreliable.