Verified against the live game, August 2026. Numbers are the current defaults and can shift with balance patches; each galaxy's host also sets its own pace.
The mining cycle
Every star system holds a finite resource reserve with its own yield. On each mining cycle — every 30 minutes of game time by default — every mining unit you own pulls its mining percentage of its system's yield straight into your treasury. A Refinery works at 100% of yield; smaller collectors pull less.
Two things surprise new commanders. First, mining doesn't need ownership — your collectors earn wherever they stand, claimed space, neutral space, or someone else's backyard. Second, reserves run dry: every cycle's extraction comes off the system's remaining pool, and a heavily-worked system eventually stops paying. The RP dossier (click the RP counter in the top bar) shows each system's remaining pool and your projected income.
Trade routes
Trade ships assigned to an agreement fly real routes and earn by the light year flown. On arrival the full cargo is credited to the owner of the station they land at — outbound legs pay your partner, return legs pay you. That's what makes trade genuinely cooperative. Two catches: hops through a usable jump gate earn nothing (no distance flown), and a route breaks if either side declares the other an enemy.
Recycling
Decommissioning a ship refunds a percentage of its build cost — each hull's recycle rating is on its registry page. An obsolete fleet is a savings account.
Morale skews everything
Your population's satisfaction band applies a multiplier to mining and trade credits: +5% in the High band, −5% in the Low band. Over thousands of cycles that's a real tax or a real subsidy — see how morale works.
When you actually pay
Queueing a build costs nothing. Payment happens only when an item reaches the front of its builder's queue and you can afford it — so you can queue a whole production run while broke and let it start as income arrives. The other big drains: transforming ships into structures, the ship market, and maintenance arrears if your fleet outgrows its support.