Asteroid Mining Outpost

This technology enables Outposts to be created on Asteroid Belts, using a Construction Ship which is expended in the process. This is an L1 technology that is not available to empires at the start of the game, but can be acquired from the Engineering branch of the Tech Tree.

This has two main benefits:

1. Allows for all (your own?) Production in that system to be increased by the percentage shown on the Asteroid Belt, typically 10% - 25%. This can be very effective in high Production systems. If there are multiple asteroid Outposts, the Production bonuses are added, not multiplied. So 20% + 10% = 30% (not 1.20 x 1.10 = 1.32).

2. Allows the creation of an Outpost in systems that contain only asteroid fields and would otherwise not permit any kind of base. In turn this enables the empire to extend the operating area of its ships, which would might not otherwise be possible, and reach otherwise unreachable parts of the map.

Note that this technology is not required to put Outposts on normal worlds. Nor is it required to put Science Station Outposts on Gas Giants (uncolonisable worlds).