Tech Upgrades
Accurate as of v1.22.0 (July 2026).
The Tech Hub offers permanent, one-time ship upgrades that make your ship more capable in specific ways.
Where to Buy
Tech Hub upgrades are sold through the Upgrades service at Stardock and Tech Outpost trading ports — look for those port types on the Nav screen. Open the port, select the Upgrades service, and the Tech Hub screen lists the full catalog with your installed upgrades marked.
You must be in the port’s sector, and upgrades apply to your active ship only.
Note this is a different system from the Shipyard capacity upgrades (hold, shield, fighter, and torpedo tiers) sold at starports. The Shipyard sells you more capacity; the Tech Hub sells you permanent one-time enhancements.
Upgrade Catalog
All upgrades are permanent and apply immediately. Each requires a minimum XP level and credit payment. You can only purchase each upgrade once per ship.
| Upgrade | Cost | XP Required | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cargo Compressors | 8,000 cr | 1,000 XP | +20% cargo capacity |
| Shield Booster Arrays | 10,000 cr | 1,500 XP | +15% shields |
| Combat AI Core | 15,000 cr | 3,000 XP | +20% fighter strength in combat |
| Warp Drive Optimizer | 18,000 cr | 4,000 XP | Warp jumps cost 1 fewer turn |
| Stealth Hull Plating | 20,000 cr | 5,000 XP | -30% contraband detection risk |
| Advanced Attack Systems | 22,000 cr | 6,000 XP | +10% combat offense multiplier |
| Reinforced Armor Plating | 22,000 cr | 6,000 XP | +10% combat defense multiplier |
Unlike most shipyard and port services, Upgrades prices are flat — the price on the card is the price you pay, regardless of your standing.
How Each Upgrade Works
Cargo Compressors
Adds 20% of your ship’s maximum cargo capacity at the moment of purchase, applied immediately. A 40-hold ship becomes a 48-hold ship. The bonus is locked in at purchase and never rescales — so buy this after you’ve maxed out your Shipyard hold tiers. Buying it early on a small hold permanently shortchanges you.
Shield Booster Arrays
Adds 15% of your ship’s shields at the moment of purchase to your maximum, and tops up your current shields by the same amount. Like the Compressors, the bonus is computed from your current value and locked in — buy it with your shields fully repaired and after any shield capacity tiers, or you permanently bake in a smaller bonus. The bonus persists through repairs and stacks with Shipyard shield tiers.
Combat AI Core
Stored as a flag on your ship. The combat system reads this and applies a 20% boost to your fighter effectiveness when attacking or defending. Best combined with high fighter counts from restocking.
Warp Drive Optimizer
Stored as a flag. Every warp jump costs 1 fewer turn, to a minimum of 1. Valuable for long-range traders who warp frequently. It does not apply to Tesseract Drive jumps — those cost a flat 25 turns no matter what.
Stealth Hull Plating
Stored as a flag. Reduces the detection roll by 30 percentage points when customs scans your cargo. Combined with a Goods Cloaking Device (750 cr at black markets), this significantly reduces your bust risk.
Advanced Attack Systems
Applies a 10% offense multiplier to your combat power calculation. Stacks with Combat AI Core for captains focused on PvP output.
Reinforced Armor Plating
Applies a 10% defense multiplier to your combat power calculation. Best investment for captains who expect to be on the receiving end of attacks.
Upgrade Strategy
The two percentage-of-current-value upgrades — Cargo Compressors and Shield Booster Arrays — reward patience. Both compute their bonus from your ship’s value at the moment you buy, and neither ever recalculates. The optimal order is mechanical, not a matter of taste:
- Max your Shipyard hold tiers, then buy Cargo Compressors — 20% of a fully upgraded hold is a lot more than 20% of a stock one.
- Repair to full shields (and buy any shield capacity tiers first), then buy Shield Booster Arrays.
Beyond those two:
Early game (under 2,000 XP): Not much is open to you yet. Save toward hold tiers before touching the Tech Hub.
Mid game (2,000 to 5,000 XP): Warp Drive Optimizer if you are covering long distances as a trader — one turn per jump adds up fast. Combat AI Core if you are combat-active.
Late game (5,000+ XP): Stealth Hull Plating is essential for dedicated smugglers. Advanced Attack Systems and Reinforced Armor Plating for PvP-focused players — the offense and defense multipliers have meaningful impact at high-tier fights.
Notes
- Upgrades apply to your active ship and never transfer. A new hull starts with none of them — factor that into the real cost of upgrading ships.
- Each upgrade can only be purchased once per ship.
- The Tech Hub screen shows which upgrades are installed on your current ship; the Ship screen surfaces the combat multipliers in the Combat Power card.
- Emergency Escape Pods are no longer a Tech Hub upgrade (removed in v1.19.0). Escape chance comes from your ship class’s base escape rating.