Your Drills Are Idle and the Nearest Ore Is a Mystery
You have built a Smelter, an Assembler, and a nice row of Solar Panels. Then you run out of Copper. You check the map. No ore markers. You build a second Drill and place it where you think ore might be. Nothing. Your factory grinds to a halt because you cannot find the next resource patch.
Prospecting in Outworld Station is not automatic. The game does not highlight ore nodes on your HUD. You have to actively search for them using the Prospector tool and, later, orbital probes. Knowing where to look cuts hours off your early game.
The Short Version
Unlock the Prospector tool first (basic research). Fly within 30m of asteroid surfaces and watch for the color-coded ping. Green = common, Blue = rare, Gold = exotic. Place a Beacon on anything with a Blue or Gold ping. Later, orbital probe unlocks a wide-area scan that maps entire sectors.
The Prospector Tool - Your First Scanner[+]
How the Prospector Works
The Prospector is an equipment item you craft at the Fabricator (cost: 10 Iron Plates + 5 Copper Ingots). Equip it in your tool slot (default T key). When active, it emits a scanning pulse in a 30m cone ahead of your character.
Ping Colors and What They Mean:
| Ping Color | Resource Type | Rarity | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Iron, Copper, Silicon | Common | Surface to 20m |
| Blue | Titanium, Tungsten | Rare | 5m to 50m |
| Gold | Superalloy nodes, Exotic minerals | Very Rare | 20m to 100m |
| Red | Volatile deposits (dangerous) | Uncommon | Surface to 10m |
| White | Relic / Artifact energy signature | Extremely Rare | 30m+ |
Pro-Tip: The Prospector has a 15-second cooldown between pulses. Do not stand still and spam it. Move in a grid pattern across the asteroid surface, pulsing every 10 steps. You will cover more area faster.
Early Game Strategy
Your starting asteroid has enough surface Iron and Copper to get through the first hour. Do not prospect immediately. Wait until you have a ship that can reach nearby asteroids. Prospecting on foot near the station wastes time when richer deposits are 200m away.
Beacon System - Mark and Remember[+]
Why Beacons Matter
Once you find a promising node, place a Beacon on it. Beacons are cheap (5 Iron Plates each) and persist on the map. Without beacons, you will forget where that Titanium vein was 30 minutes later.
Beacon Color Convention:
| Beacon Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Surface ore ready to mine now |
| Blue | Deep ore, needs deep drill |
| Red | Danger (volatile or enemy-adjacent) |
| Gold | Rare deposit, save for later |
| White | Relic or POI |
Place 3-4 beacons during each prospecting run. Your future self will thank you.
Orbital Probe Tech - Sector-Wide Scanning[+]
Unlocking the Probe
The Orbital Probe is a mid-game research unlock (requires Station Level 6, Electronics production). Once built, it launches into orbit and scans a 500m radius around your station.
Probe Results:
| Tech Level | Scan Radius | Duration | Reveals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Probe | 500m | 60 seconds | All surface nodes |
| Advanced Probe | 1000m | 120 seconds | Surface + shallow nodes |
| Deep Scan Probe | 2000m | 180 seconds | All nodes including deep |
Cost to Build:
- Basic Probe: 50 Electronics + 20 Superalloy
- Advanced Probe: 100 Electronics + 50 Superalloy + 10 Tungsten
- Deep Scan: 200 Electronics + 100 Superalloy + 20 Quantum Crystals
One-Time Use
Probes are consumable. You get one scan per probe. If the scan reveals nothing useful, you wasted the materials. I recommend saving your first probe until you have explored nearby space manually and know roughly where the good stuff should be.
Priority Prospecting Route
Hour 1-2: Stick to your starting asteroid. Manual prospecting within 50m of the station.
Hour 2-4: Build a basic ship. Fly to the nearest asteroid cluster (100-200m away). Look for Blue (Titanium) pings.
Hour 4-8: Titanium found? Unlock the Basic Orbital Probe. Scan a sector that showed promise during manual prospecting.
Hour 8+: Deep Scan probe on sectors near gas giants and relic zones.
v1.1: Extended Prospecting Reach
The v1.1 Exo-Planet Lifters technology extends your mining and lifting reach to more distant or exotic planetary bodies. If you found certain resource-rich bodies out of range in previous versions, v1.1 may now make them accessible. Revisit sectors you skipped — ore that was previously out-of-bounds for automated lifting may now be within reach. Pair this with an upgraded Orbital Probe for maximum sector coverage.