Life support
A ship's crew and passengers require:
- Oxygen
- Crew can survive in spacesuits, so long as they are refilled with oxygen periodically, but civilians can't wear spacesuits and require an atmosphere.
- CO2 removal (if an atmosphere exists).
- Food
- Water
- Sewage removal is not yet required (as of Alpha 14), but presumably will be at some point.
Resource Management
Buy/Sell
Oxygen, food, and water can all be purchased. CO2 and sewage can be bottled with a loader and sold.
Harvest
All resources can be collected from post-combat debris. Waste water can be harvested from ice comets with mining lasers and then purified. Oxygen can be produced from water with an oxygen maker, though this risks using up the water supply if not monitored.
Recycle
With the right equipment, CO2 and sewage can be recycled back into oxygen, food, and water. Research can increase the quantity of resources recovered from this process.
Example recycling systems:
- CO2 Scrubber ⇒
CO2⇒ Air Reprocessor ⇒Oxygen - Sewage Pipe ⇒
Sewage⇒ Waste Treatment Machine ⇒Waste WaterandCompostWaste Water⇒ Water Purifier ⇒WaterCompostandWaterandSeeds⇒ Hydroponic Garden ⇒FoodandSeeds