Ship yards

One of the concepts for v0.2 is shipyards. Early concept of the smallest one for fighters:

Fighter, Corvette, Frigate, Destroyer, Dreadnought to support the war effort.

Or take a non-military path: Scout, Science vessel, Colony ship, Space station, Arcology.

The model above is 18m x 36m with the largest planned at 90m x 180m. Prodigious resource sinks.

The idea is, instead of just focusing on the rocket launch supply goals as in v0.1, the player will choose different progression paths by accepting fleet construction orders. Use your factory to produce a squadron of fighters to unlock defence tech X. Retool to produce a generation colony ship to unlock power generation tech Y. Guarantee to produce a destroyer per hour for N hours to prove factory throughput and unlock upgrades.

It's really a research tree in disguise, but without generic science packs or artificial tiers. Progression options should adapt to your factory strengths and vice versa.