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Asteroid Belt

A distributed field of rocky bodies in orbit around the system centre. Asteroid belts have very few sector slots but can carry very high occurrence ratings for specific resources.

Purpose

Provide a high-specialisation extraction option that complements planetary development. A belt is not a smaller planet — it is a focused extraction site that rewards players who commit to a narrow resource output rather than broad development.

Player Value

A system with a high-occurrence asteroid belt can produce more of a specific resource from extraction alone than a planet with a moderate occurrence rating — but only within a very limited number of sectors. Belts create a meaningful trade-off between output depth and development flexibility.

Resource Profile

Resource Occurrence Range
Structural Materials Moderate to Rich (1.0× to 2.0×)

Each asteroid belt receives its own occurrence rating at world creation within this range. A belt's occurrence rating can exceed that of any rocky planet.

Rules

  • Asteroid belts orbit the system centre, at the same layer as planets.
  • Asteroid belts are surface-accessible.
  • Asteroid belts have significantly fewer sector slots than planets.
  • Each asteroid belt receives a resource occurrence profile at world creation time, typically weighted toward Structural Materials.
  • A belt's occurrence rating for its primary resource can exceed any planet's occurrence rating for that same resource.
  • Asteroid belts cannot have moons in orbit around them.
  • The limited slot count makes it impractical to maintain both high extraction output and defensive sectors on the same belt simultaneously.

Player Actions

  • View an asteroid belt's position within the system map.
  • View an asteroid belt's resource occurrence profile.
  • Claim an asteroid belt (subject to ownership rules).
  • Place extraction sectors on an asteroid belt (subject to infrastructure rules).

Constraints

  • Asteroid belts cannot be moved or destroyed by players.
  • The sector slot count of a belt is fixed. Players cannot expand it.
  • Slot count and sector placement rules are defined in the infrastructure feature documentation.
  • Ownership rules are defined in their respective features.
  • Extraction rules are defined in the extraction feature documentation.