9.2 Construction, Refit, and Repair

Updated: v2026.01.30

Once your shipyards are established and tooled, the process of actually building, refitting, repairing, and scrapping ships becomes a routine but critical part of fleet management. This section covers the full lifecycle of a vessel from keel-laying to the scrapyard.

9.2.1 Building Ships

Updated: v2026.01.30

Starting Construction: To build a ship, navigate to the Economics window (F2), select the Shipyard tab, choose a shipyard that has been retooled for the desired ship class, and click the button to begin construction. If the yard has multiple slipways available, you can start multiple ships of the same class simultaneously.

Important – Class Assignment Required: Shipyards must be assigned to a specific ship class before they can build ships. This is a common source of confusion for new players. Designing a ship class does not automatically enable any shipyard to build it – you must explicitly retool a shipyard for that class first. Shipyards can only build ships of their assigned class or sufficiently similar designs (within 20% tonnage for refits). See Section 9.1.3 Expanding and Retooling for retooling procedures.

9.2.1.1 Construction Task Workflow (Step-by-Step)

Step 1 – Select Shipyard: In Economics (F2) > Shipyard tab, click the shipyard name (e.g., “Newport News”). Verify its capacity exceeds your ship design’s tonnage.

Step 2 – Retool (if needed): Click “Retool,” select the ship class from the dropdown, and click “Set Activity.” The first retool for any new shipyard is free in cost – neither build points nor minerals are consumed – but the retooling time still applies (the yard must spend the configuration period before construction can begin). See Section 9.1.3 Expanding and Retooling for full retooling mechanics. Note that retooling halts any ship construction in progress but does not interrupt a continual capacity upgrade – the yard continues gaining capacity while retooling.

Step 3 – Create Construction Task: In the bottom section of the Shipyard tab:

  1. Set “Task Type” to “Construction”
  2. Choose fleet destination: “Use Admin” (assigns to an admin command) or select a specific fleet
  3. Select the ship class to build
  4. Type the ship name (first ship typically uses the class name)
  5. Click “Create Task”

Step 4 – Queue Multiple Ships: After the first “Create Task,” the name field auto-populates with the next name from the class naming theme. Click “Create Task” again for each additional ship. Each click queues one ship per available slipway. The button becomes unavailable when all slipways are occupied.

Key Behaviors:

  • Ships under construction appear in the “Shipyard Tasks” section, not the main build queue
  • Shipyard Tasks displays: completion date, current progress, and build rate
  • The shipyard continues capacity upgrades even while building ships
  • Retooling does not require the shipyard to stop its continual capacity upgrade
  • Ship names auto-generate from the class naming theme after the first ship is named

The “Use Admin” Option: Assigns newly built ships directly to an Admin Command structure upon completion. The alternative is selecting a specific fleet for the ship to join. See Section 9.4 Fleet Organization for admin command details.

Mineral Costs: Each ship class has a specific mineral cost determined by its components, listed in the Ship Designer (see Section 8.1 Design Philosophy). The minerals (see Section 6.1 Minerals) required include \hyperlink{ref-9.2-2}{[2]}:

  • Duranium – Hull structure, armor, engineering, cargo, most mechanical components
  • Neutronium – Armor, magazines, railguns, damage control
  • Corbomite – Shields, fire controls, sensors (active), electronic warfare, cloaking
  • Tritanium – Missile launchers, magazines
  • Boronide – Reactors, fuel storage, lasers, particle beams, weapons, terraforming
  • Mercassium – Crew quarters, troop transport, tractor beams, hangars
  • Vendarite – Cargo/MSP transfer, colonist transport, hangars, gauss cannons
  • Sorium – Jump drives (also used as fuel, stored separately and loaded after construction)
  • Uridium – Survey sensors, passive sensors, fire controls, active sensors, damage control
  • Corundium – Lasers, particle beams, meson cannons, plasma carronades, orbital mining
  • Gallicite – Engines (critical for all ship construction)

Minerals are consumed from the colony’s stockpile as construction progresses, not all at once. If a required mineral runs out, construction pauses until the mineral becomes available again.

Construction Time: The time to build a ship equals its total Build Point (BP) cost divided by the BP output of the slipway constructing it \hyperlink{ref-9.2-3}{[3]}. BP output is affected by:

  • Shipyard type (base rate is 400 BP/year per slipway for all shipyard types \hyperlink{ref-9.2-1}{[1]})
  • Number of Shipyard Workers assigned
  • Governor bonuses (if the colony’s governor has a Shipbuilding bonus \hyperlink{ref-9.2-4}{[4]}; see Section 16.3 Assignments)
  • Racial production modifiers

Monitoring Progress: The Shipyard tab shows the percentage completion and estimated time remaining for each ship under construction. Ships under construction are not visible in the fleet window until completed.

Completion: When a ship finishes construction, it appears in orbit of the colony that built it, fully crewed (assuming sufficient population), and with its fuel tanks empty (unverified — #837 – requires live testing). You must fuel the ship before it can travel. New ships are automatically added to a “Pool” or can be assigned to a task group.

Tip: Always have fuel production and transport infrastructure in place before ships complete construction. A newly-built warship sitting in orbit unfueled is a wasted investment. Consider building a fuel depot at your main construction colony.

Tip: Queue multiple ships of the same class if your mineral supply allows it. This keeps your yards productive without the downtime of retooling between different classes.

9.2.2 Refitting Ships

Updated: v2026.01.30

Refitting allows you to upgrade existing ships to a newer design without building from scratch. This is particularly valuable for upgrading sensor suites, fire control systems, or engines on ships whose hulls are still serviceable.

When to Refit:

  • A new technology has been researched that significantly improves a component (e.g., better engines, improved sensors)
  • A design flaw has been identified in an existing class
  • You want to standardize a mixed fleet to a single updated design
  • The cost of refitting is significantly less than building new

How to Refit:

  1. Create a new ship class in the Ship Designer that represents the upgraded version
  2. In the Economics window, select the shipyard and set it to the refit task
  3. Select the ship to refit and the target design
  4. The ship must be in orbit of the colony with the shipyard
  5. Begin the refit

Refit Size Restrictions (C# Formula):

In C# Aurora, the refit size calculation was fundamentally redesigned from VB6:

  • VB6 Formula: ABS(Current HS - Refit HS) * 5
  • C# Formula: (ABS(Current HS - Refit HS) / Current HS) * Refit Cost (unverified — #837 – requires live testing)

The C# approach uses a percentage-based modifier rather than an absolute value, creating more realistic cost outcomes. A critical restriction applies: you cannot refit a ship to a design that is more than 20% smaller or 20% larger than the existing design (unverified — #837 – requires live testing). This prevents unrealistic cost situations and reduces clutter in the “Refit from” dropdown menu.

Note that the 20% restriction is asymmetric. For example, a class of 10,000 tons could be refitted to a class of 8,000 tons (within 20% of the original), but the reverse would not be true (10,000 is 25% larger than 8,000, exceeding the 20% limit).

Refit Costs:

A dedicated section in the Miscellaneous tab of the Class Design window displays refit costs, showing:

  • Cost to refit from the selected class to each eligible alternative
  • Cost to refit to the selected class from each eligible alternative
  • A percentage column indicating what portion of the target class cost is required
  • Percentage of cost for both original and refitted ships
  • Identification of situations where original and refitted variants may be built in the same shipyard

The percentage value represents the refit cost as a proportion of the destination class’s build cost, allowing you to quickly assess economic viability. You can build either your tooled class or any other class where refit costs remain below 20% of the target vessel’s cost.

Consumables During Refit: When a ship undergoes refit, fuel, maintenance supplies, and ordnance are automatically moved from (or to) the refitting population to account for the differences post-refit. This ensures the ship has appropriate consumable levels for its new configuration.

Restrictions:

  • You cannot refit a damaged ship (unverified — #837 – requires live testing) – the vessel must be fully repaired before any refit can begin
  • The target design must be within 20% of the original ship’s tonnage (larger or smaller)
  • The target design must fit within the shipyard’s tonnage capacity
  • The shipyard must be retooled for the target class (or retooled as part of the process)
  • The ship being refitted cannot be deployed – it must be at the colony
  • Crew may need to be adjusted if the new design has different crew requirements

Auto Refit Tasks:

The Auto Refit task works identically to a standard Refit task with one key difference: when the task is finished, the shipyard will automatically start a new refit task using the same target class. Specifically, if you auto-refit Class A to Class B, when the task completes the shipyard will check for another Class A ship in the same location and automatically begin refitting it. If no eligible ship is found, the auto refit task ends.

This is particularly valuable for refitting fighters, which can now be refitted in shipyards in C# Aurora. Without auto refit, refitting a squadron of fighters would require tedious manual refit orders for each individual craft.

Tip: When designing ships, consider future refit paths. Leaving some unused hull space in early designs makes later refits simpler. A modular design philosophy – where weapons and sensors can be swapped without changing the core hull – saves enormous resources over a ship class’s lifetime.

Tip: Refit is almost always more cost-effective than building new if the hull is unchanged. A 15,000-ton cruiser that needs only a sensor upgrade might cost 10-20% of the original build cost to refit, versus 100% to build a replacement from scratch.

Tip: Check the refit costs section in the Class Design window before committing to a refit. If the percentage cost exceeds 60-70% of building new, it may be more economical to simply construct a new vessel and scrap the old one.

9.2.3 Scrapping

Updated: v2026.01.30

Ships that are obsolete, damaged beyond economical repair, or simply surplus to requirements can be scrapped to recover a portion of their mineral investment.

How to Scrap:

  1. Move the ship to a colony with a shipyard (the shipyard does not need to be retooled for that class)
  2. In the Shipyard tab or the Task Group window, assign the ship for scrapping
  3. The scrapping process takes time proportional to the ship’s size

Intelligent Scrapping: In C# Aurora, the scrapping/deleting process is much more intelligent about handling ship contents.\hyperlink{ref-9.2-5}{[5]} When a ship is scrapped:

  • Commanders and officers are automatically moved to the scrapping population
  • Assigned teams are relocated to the colony
  • Ground units aboard are transferred to the scrapping population
  • Fuel, maintenance supplies, and ordnance are automatically unloaded to the colony’s stockpile

This eliminates the need to manually unload a ship’s contents before scrapping and prevents the loss of valuable personnel and equipment.

Mineral Recovery: Scrapping a ship returns components and minerals to the colony. Ship components (except basic systems like bridge and fuel tanks) are returned to the component stockpile and can be reused in new ships or scrapped for additional minerals. A percentage of minerals from armor and basic systems is also recovered directly. The exact mineral recovery percentage is not documented (unverified — #837 – requires live testing). For comparison, scrapping installations and ground formations returns 30%, and salvaging wrecks returns 10% of tonnage.

When to Scrap:

  • Ships with obsolete technology that cannot be cost-effectively refitted
  • Severely damaged ships where repair costs exceed replacement costs
  • Excess ships of a class you no longer need (maintenance costs continue on idle ships)
  • Captured enemy vessels whose technology is incompatible with your fleet

Scrapping vs. Mothballing: Before scrapping, consider whether the ship might have future utility. Scrapping is permanent. If you merely want to reduce maintenance costs temporarily, you can place ships in a reserve fleet or simply leave them unfueled in orbit.

Tip: Early-game survey ships and scouts are prime candidates for scrapping once their role is fulfilled. Their recovered minerals can contribute to your first warship construction runs.

Warning: Don’t neglect scrapping old ships. Every vessel in your fleet incurs maintenance costs in minerals, and those costs add up. A fleet of 20 obsolete frigates sitting idle consumes minerals that could be building modern destroyers.

9.2.4 Ship Repair

Updated: v2026.01.29

Damaged ships can be repaired through two distinct mechanisms: field repair using onboard damage control, and shipyard repair for comprehensive restoration including armor.

Field Repair vs. Shipyard Repair

Aspect Field Repair (Damage Control) Shipyard Repair
Location Anywhere (onboard) Colony with shipyard
Armor Cannot repair armor Fully restores armor
Components Repairs damaged components to functional Full component replacement
Resource Consumes MSP from ship stores Consumes minerals from colony
Speed Limited by engineering capacity Limited by shipyard BP output
Maintenance clock Not reset Reset to zero

For detailed field repair and damage control mechanics, see Section 12.6.3 Repair and Damage Control.

Initiating Shipyard Repair

To repair a ship at a shipyard:

  1. Move the damaged ship to a colony with a shipyard
  2. In the Economics window (F2) > Shipyard tab, select the shipyard
  3. Set the task type to “Repair”
  4. Select the damaged ship from the available list
  5. Create the repair task

Key Repair Mechanics:

  • No retooling required: Unlike construction, repair does not require the shipyard to be retooled for the specific ship class. Any shipyard with sufficient capacity can repair any ship. (unverified — #837 – requires live testing)
  • Capacity requirement: The shipyard’s tonnage capacity must be equal to or greater than the ship being repaired
  • Repair cost: The mineral cost of repair is proportional to the damage sustained – only damaged components and destroyed armor consume minerals. A lightly damaged ship costs far less to repair than a heavily damaged one. (unverified — #837 – requires live testing)
  • Repair time: Repair time is based on the BP cost of the damaged components divided by the shipyard’s BP output rate, similar to construction time calculation (unverified — #837 – requires live testing)
  • Maintenance overhaul: Shipyard repair also resets the ship’s maintenance clock to zero, restoring reliability. Ships that have been deployed for extended periods accumulate maintenance failures (see Section 14.2 Maintenance)

Repair Economics:

When evaluating whether to repair or scrap a damaged ship, consider:

  • Compare repair mineral cost vs. new construction mineral cost
  • Factor in retooling time if the shipyard is not already set up for the class (repair avoids this)
  • Consider the ship’s remaining useful life (is the design obsolete?)
  • A ship at 80%+ damage may cost nearly as much to repair as to build new
  • Ships with destroyed engines or critical systems may need to be towed to the repair yard (see Section 9.4.4 Tractor Operations)

Tip: Maintain at least one repair-capable shipyard with generous tonnage capacity at your main naval base. When ships return from combat, having repair capacity immediately available minimizes downtime.

Tip: For extended campaigns far from home, consider building a mobile repair yard (orbital shipyard towed by a tug) that can be deployed at forward operating bases.

UI References

References

\hypertarget{ref-9.2-1}{[1]} AuroraDB.db, FCT_Race table: ShipBuilding = 400.0 confirms base build rate of 400 BP/year per slipway for all shipyard types. Naval and commercial yards share the same base rate.

\hypertarget{ref-9.2-2}{[2]} AuroraDB.db, FCT_ShipDesignComponents table: mineral columns (Duranium through Gallicite) per component type confirm mineral-to-component mapping. Engines use Gallicite exclusively; reactors use Boronide; shields use Corbomite; survey sensors use Uridium; etc.

\hypertarget{ref-9.2-3}{[3]} AuroraWiki “Shipyard” page – Construction time = total BP cost / slipway BP output. BP output modified by workers, governor bonus, and racial modifiers.

\hypertarget{ref-9.2-4}{[4]} AuroraDB.db, DIM_CommanderBonusType table: BonusID=4, Description=”Shipbuilding”, Percentage=1 (percentage-based bonus). Confirms governor Shipbuilding bonus exists as a named bonus type.

\hypertarget{ref-9.2-5}{[5]} Aurora Forums, C# Aurora Changes List v1.00 – “Scrapping/Deleting is much more intelligent about moving commanders, teams and ground units from a ship to the scrapping population (in case you accidentally scrap or delete a ship with them on board). Fuel, maintenance and ordnance are also automatically unloaded.”

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