Moon mining and boost, how?

[Alterum]

As far as I can tell, I can't construct the relevant mining thing in space, so it needs to be built on earth and launched for something like SIXTY boost. Maybe I just haven't been playing long enough, but that is an absurd amount of boost compared to my monthly production of like 1.5. Do I just wait it out until my stockpile is large enough, or am I missing something?

[martyr]

There are techs to reduce the cost. But yes, that's what you have to do.

[Zuul]

Yup, that is indeed what you have to do. Cost should be down around 30ish boost if you’ve grabbed the appropriate early game tech. The whatever the heck it’s called rocket tech that is available at game start is a god send. There are 3 linked projects. 1 of them is 100 tech and reduces boost cost and gives 10% extra boost investment. Other is 200 and gives 10%. Third is 1k and gives 20%.

[Wrigley]

Yes, that sounds about right. You need to either invest more in boost from the beginning or take over nations with a lot of boost. At the beginning that's the United States and Kazakhstan. Of course, the boost they have when the game starts will be dwarfed fairly early on, but they're a good place to start.

To maximize boost, research Advanced Chemical Rocketry (one of the global techs), as that unlocks some projects that give you a massive boost to boost.

Also, avoid building space stations until you get at least a moon mining base. Each station costs upkeep of various resources. If they can't get those in space, they get them from earth. If they get them from earth, their resource upkeep cost becomes a boost upkeep cost, which can really hurt your monthly boost income.

[Gedsaro]

Yeah, Part of it is getting more boost income than you currently have (in my current game, moon is just getting filled up, and i've sent 2 outposts to mars) I have around 3.7 boost surplus a month, and all the of the techs that reduce boost use past LEO.

With all 3 of the techs, it reduces boost cost per unit of space material used something like.. 70% ? or so from having no tech.

Even so paying boost for the first moon mine hurts, especially if you have to do it before having all the reducing tech because the AI decided to rush the space mission techs so you have to pay it or not get anything (no im not bitter that the AI chose mission to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mars before mission to the moon, and before I got all my techs ready and so had to then rush mission to moon so i could get a damn moon mine so I won't have to pay ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of boost for mars ♥♥♥♥. why do you ask?)