Having completed the Milestones in Tiers 5 and 6, you’ve unlocked plenty of new ways to expand your factories and craft new components. From here on, the difficulty ramps up considerably, and you’ll need to focus on how your production lines connect, how they’re powered, and how you transport all materials to where they’re needed. To keep everything under control and prepare for what’s next, you’ll first need to complete another phase of the Space Elevator. That ensures you’re ready for the next step in Satisfactory. Here’s how to do it and then unlock Tier 7 and 8.
Satisfactory Space Elevator Phase 3 preparation: power, trains, and oil
At first glance, Phase 3 doesn’t look too tricky, as you’ve already produced one of the required components for Phase 2. The other two parts, however, are far more complex and demand large factories you’ll have to build first.
For Phase 3 you need:
- 2500x Versatile Framework
- 500x Modular Engines
- 100x Adaptive Control Units
Because you’ll need some crucial resources as well as a lot of energy, you should expand both aspects in your world. We recommend getting to grips with trains to move materials from far‑flung locations back to your factory (Satisfactory Trains Guide: Freight Cars, Signals & Stations) . You don’t have to use them, but they can save you a lot of running.
You’ll also need sufficient power for all of the production steps. Use Fuel refined from Oil. If you’ve unlocked some alternate recipes, we suggest a loop with Heavy Oil Residue, Plastic, and Rubber to produce up to 300% more Fuel (Satisfactory: The 10 best alternative recipes for efficient factories) .
Versatile Framework production for Space Elevator Phase 3
What was the most time‑consuming task in Phase 2 is likely the most straightforward part of this phase. You should already have a production line for Versatile Framework, so there isn’t much more to add here. If you want a refresher, check our guide (Satisfactory Guide: Successfully complete Space Elevator Phase 2) . In the end, it’s just a matter of waiting patiently for the 2500 units.
We can, however, recommend a few alternate recipes that streamline production. The best approach is a combination of Cast Screws and Bolted Iron Plate into Bolted Frame to produce Modular Frames more easily and efficiently — one of the base components for Versatile Framework. You can leave Steel Beams as they are; the alternates aren’t really worth it here.
Crafting Modular Engines for Phase 3: Motors, Rubber, and Smart Plating
Things get noticeably more complex with the Modular Engine, which is crafted from three parts. You’ll need more space and more power, but you only have to make 500 of them. Let’s first look at production without alternate recipes.
- Motors: The backbone here is Iron Ore, Copper Ore, and Coal. You’ll assemble Rotors and Stators, then combine them into Motors. Many of the intermediate steps should be familiar and not too difficult — they just take more space.
- Rubber: Although it adds a fourth base resource in the form of Crude Oil, Rubber is probably the simplest element of the Modular Engine. You can turn the resulting Heavy Oil Residue into Fuel.
- Smart Plating: You’ll also need Rotors for Smart Plating, a Space Elevator Phase 2 component. That shouldn’t be an issue, since you already need Rotors for Motors. The other ingredient is Reinforced Iron Plates, which are straightforward to produce.
Handily, several of these three sub‑chains overlap and feed into each other. That lets you produce the parts more efficiently and tie everything together in one large factory. If you break it down into smaller steps, it suddenly feels far less daunting.
Producing Adaptive Control Units: Computers, wiring, and Heavy Modular Frames
This unassuming item is actually the most involved element of the third Space Elevator phase. You’ll need to craft four different components to assemble the Adaptive Control Unit in a Manufacturer. As before, break it down into sub‑steps and it’s instantly less intimidating. Like the Modular Engines, there are overlaps that suit a single large factory. You only need 100 units, which is very manageable.
- Automated Wiring: You’ll remember this from Phase 2, so it’s largely predetermined. Start with Copper and Steel, turn them into Cables and Stators, and assemble.
- Circuit Boards: A fairly simple part of the Adaptive Control Unit. You’ll need Plastic and Copper Sheets to craft Circuit Boards. Both should be easy to produce. As with Rubber for the Modular Engine, you can also obtain Fuel as a by‑product when making Plastic.
- Computers: Computers are surprisingly straightforward, since Circuit Boards already cover a major part. Cables come from Copper, and Plastic is already used for the boards.
Heavy Modular Frames are definitely the most demanding part of the Control Units. They combine many production steps that have little to no overlap with the other three components. It can therefore be worth producing the frames separately and then transporting them.
We recommend a mix of alternate recipes to make this easier:
- Cast Screws
- Encased Industrial Pipe
- Heavy Encased Frame
- Iron Pipe
Conclusion: Unlock Tiers 7 and 8 in Satisfactory with efficient factories
Space Elevator Phase 3 can look very difficult and complex at first glance. But if you break the parts down into their individual components, you’ll quickly see that most lines are relatively simple. You’ll likely have many of them up and running already, or can scale them with little effort. On top of that, plenty of alternate recipes come into play here, simplifying several processes. In the end, it’s up to your own setup to decide which alternates are worth it.
Get ready to complete the third Space Elevator phase with one of our servers or jump into Satisfactory with your friends. It’s immediately more fun together, and everyone can take care of a different part of the phase.
