Research

Research belongs to the account, not to any one colony: a technology's level counts everywhere at once. One research runs at a time, and a higher Laboratory shortens the wait. The branches below are the game's own grouping — the combat line sharpens every unit you own (how a fight counts it), the drives set how fast hulls fly, and the expansion line opens colonies, expeditions and deeper espionage.

Combat

	Name	Base cost	Growth per level	What it does
	Ballistics	800 Iron, 200 Carbon	×2	Calibres and payloads: weapon power grows a tenth per level.
	Shielding	200 Iron, 600 Carbon	×2	Shield emitters: shield strength grows a tenth per level.
	Armour Alloys	1,000 Iron	×2	Hull alloys: structural integrity grows a tenth per level.

Drives

	Name	Base cost	Growth per level	What it does
	Chemical Drive	400 Iron, 600 Hydrogen	×2	Chemical thrust for the earliest hulls; every level pushes them faster.
	Ion Drive	2,000 Iron, 4,000 Carbon, 600 Hydrogen	×2	Reaction drives beyond combustion, speeding the mid-weight hulls.
	Hyperspace Drive	10,000 Iron, 20,000 Carbon, 6,000 Hydrogen	×2	Folds space around the heaviest hulls; each level shortens the fold.

Energy & matter

	Name	Base cost	Growth per level	What it does
	Energy Physics	800 Carbon, 400 Hydrogen	×2	Energy grids and reactor lore — the current that feeds every advanced technology.
	Photonics	200 Iron, 100 Carbon	×2	Focused light for industry and weaponry; the base of all ion and plasma work.
	Ion Physics	1,000 Iron, 300 Carbon, 100 Hydrogen	×2	Accelerated ion streams that harden shields and strip enemy hulls.
	Plasma Physics	2,000 Iron, 4,000 Carbon, 1,000 Hydrogen	×2	Contained plasma for turret fire and refined mine yields.
	Graviton Physics	500,000 Iron, 300,000 Carbon, 100,000 Hydrogen	×2	Artificial gravity wells — the price of the deathstar's lance.

Expansion & intel

	Name	Base cost	Growth per level	What it does
	Hyperspace Theory	4,000 Carbon, 2,000 Hydrogen	×2	The theory of folded space; unlocks the drives and hulls that cross it.
	Telemetry	200 Iron, 1,000 Carbon, 200 Hydrogen	×2	Probe sensors and counter-sensors: deeper reports, fewer discoveries.
	Computing	400 Carbon, 600 Hydrogen	×2	Command capacity — each level runs one more fleet slot.
	Astrophysics	4,000 Iron, 8,000 Carbon, 4,000 Hydrogen	×2	Expedition range and colony count; each level reaches further out.
	Research Network	240,000 Iron, 400,000 Carbon, 160,000 Hydrogen	×2	Links the empire's laboratories into one joint research mind.