Up to now, Satisfactory has already thrown some major challenges your way, but Tier 8 turns things up another notch! You’ll need to combine everything you’ve learned from earlier milestones, and ideally have key factories and production lines in place to make the road ahead smoother. Take it slow—there’s no need to rush. Check the M.A.M. for alternate recipes and research paths that can simplify certain steps. Things come fast here, with big goals and even bigger systems to unlock. From nuclear power to the Particle Accelerator, Satisfactory really hits its stride!
Satisfactory drone transport: Airborne logistics with Drone Ports
Tier 8 begins relatively gently, since you can likely already produce many of the required items. This is where the last stretch of Tier 7 comes into play to produce items like the Radio Control Unit.
Complete with:
- 50x Radio Control Unit
- 100x Alclad Aluminum Sheet
- 200x Aluminum Casing
- 300x Motor
This milestone unlocks drones—another powerful way to transport your goods. They function similarly to the Truck or Tractor, just in the air. Assign them to different Drone Ports so they can fly from A to B. They run on Batteries and can reach speeds of up to 252 km/h, making them the fastest transport option in the game. They’re a strong alternative to trains or conveyor belts.
Satisfactory nuclear power guide: Nuclear Power Plant, fuel rods, and waste
Let’s move from the easiest to the hardest part of Tier 8. This is where you can finally enter the nuclear age—at a steep cost.
Complete with:
- 50x Supercomputer
- 200x Heavy Modular Frame
- 1,000x Cable
- 2,000x Concrete
In Tier 7 you unlocked your Hazmat Suit, which you’ll now put to use. You can start searching for uranium and kick off power production with nuclear energy. But it’s not plug-and-play—the whole process is extremely complex and requires serious planning.
The foundation is the Nuclear Power Plant, a new machine in your arsenal. As in real life, you must cool the fuel rods with water and deal with the resulting nuclear waste, which remains radioactive. We’ll cover nuclear power in a separate deep dive. It’s arguably the best power source in the game, but it comes with significant risks. We recommend continuing to rely on Turbo Fuel (and Rocket Fuel for related chains) at first—more on that in another post (Satisfactory Sulfur Research: Locations, Nobelisk, Fuel, and Weapons) .
At the same time, you unlock a new Space Elevator part for the next phase. You’ll need 200x Magnetic Field Generators, so start producing them now.
Satisfactory aluminum guide: Resource Wells, nitrogen gas, and fluid logistics
More aluminum-based recipes become available and are crucial for several later unlocks. You’ll also gain access to additional resources you may already recognize.
Complete with:
- 50x Radio Control Unit
- 200x Aluminum Casing
- 400x Alclad Aluminum Sheet
- 3,000x Wire
This unlock touches multiple production lines. For example, you’ll gain access to gas storage tanks (if you don’t already have them from Sulfur research). You’ll also unlock components for the nuclear chain, including the Cooling System and Fused Modular Frames used in several upcoming recipes.
Another key piece: you can now prospect for Water, Crude Oil, and Nitrogen Gas via Resource Wells. With the Resource Well Pressurizer, you can extract these more efficiently from wells, which should give your production a boost. Nitrogen Gas is especially important for several other components. We recommend setting up a dedicated factory at the Blue Crater, where you’ll find nitrogen and many other valuable resources.
Satisfactory Mk.3 Miner: Maximum ore extraction and Turbo Motors
Another focus here is pushing your ore extraction even further to squeeze the most out of your lines.
Complete with:
- 50x Fused Modular Frame
- 100x Supercomputer
- 1,000x Steel Pipe
The new Mk.3 Miners can extract up to 480 items per minute on a pure node. This lets you upgrade iron, coal, or copper sites to scale production. Mk.3 Miners are expensive, so place them strategically. You’ll need not only Fused Modular Frames, but also Turbo Motors—which you also unlock here.
You’ll also unlock the Thermal Propulsion Rocket, another Space Elevator part. You’ll need 250 of these to access Tier 9.
Satisfactory Particle Accelerator: Particle processing, uranium, and plutonium
The final Tier 8 section packs a punch. Here you unlock the Particle Accelerator and several of the most important late-game recipes. You’ll need everything you’ve built so far to move forward.
Complete with:
- 50x Turbo Motor
- 100x Fused Modular Frame
- 200x Cooling System
- 2,500x Turbo Wire
The Particle Accelerator is one of the coolest machines—and one of the trickiest. Its recipes draw varying amounts of power, which can be confusing at first, but it’s essential if you want to go deeper into nuclear. You’ll unlock many recipes for further processing uranium and plutonium so you can make effective use of your waste. More recipes arrive in Tier 9 to close the loop.
You’ll also unlock Nuclear Pasta here—the final Space Elevator part you’re missing—so you’ll need to engage with the Accelerator at least partially. It requires Copper Powder and Pressure Conversion Cubes, both new recipes in this section.
Lastly, you’ll unlock Nitric Acid production, which you can craft from Nitrogen Gas, Water, and Iron Plates. You’ll also need it for uranium processing and Rocket Fuel. If you’ve already researched Sulfur, this won’t be entirely new, and Nitric Acid is used in many alternate recipes as well.
Tier 8 conclusion: Big challenges, drones, and nuclear power
Difficulty ramps up sharply in Satisfactory’s Tier 8 as you dive into handling nuclear materials. It’s the best source of power, but it’s complex and demands patience. Some things—like drones for transport and the Mk.3 Miners—make life easier. You’ll also unlock key Space Elevator parts to prepare for Tier 9.
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