Materials, Crafting, and Rocket Part Requirements
At some point in Little Rocket Lab, Morgan's tidy little belt line turns into a town-sized plate of conveyor spaghetti, and the Silo still has the nerve to ask for more parts. That is normal. The fix is not always more machines. First, name what is missing, then trace it one step back. Materials are raw or base resources, like ore, bars, stone, wood, and scraps. Components are crafted parts made from those materials. Rocket parts are usually big delivery quotas made from components, turned in at the Silo to move Morgan's family rocket forward.
The fun is watching junk, ore, and town repairs become real rocket progress. Treat every big requirement as a chain, not a shopping list. If a quota stalls, check the last machine making the requested item, then check the ingredient feeding that machine. Most clogs are plain: no bars, no plates, no motors, no rocket dreams. Rude, but fixable.
Core Material Flow
| Item Type | What It Means | Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| Raw materials | Basic resources you gather, mine, smelt, cut, or recycle. | Starting every production chain. |
| Bars and scraps | Processed base items such as Iron Bar, Copper Bar, and Plastic Scraps. | Feeding early assemblers and chemical chains. |
| Simple components | First useful crafted parts, such as Iron Plate, Gear, Bearing, Copper Wire, and Heatsink. | Building machines, repairs, and early Silo work. |
| Advanced components | Parts such as Small Motor, Stator, Steel Beam, Circuit Board, Servo, Oxygen Tank, Fiberglass, Battery, and Supercomputer. | Rocket stages, research gates, and late-game rebuilds. |
| Rocket Fuel | A late-game fuel component made in a Chemical Plant. | Final launch prep. Plan extra handling space because Rocket Fuel does not stack like normal components. |
Important Component Recipes
Use this as a quick chain map when a rocket quota looks bigger than Morgan's backpack and patience combined. The exact machine matters because later parts may need a Level 2 or Level 3 Assembler, or a Chemical Plant, instead of the early Assembler.
| Component | Crafted In | Main Ingredients | Why You Care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Plate | Assembler Level 1 | Iron Bar | Used everywhere. If anything stops, check this first. |
| Gear | Assembler Level 1 | Iron Plate | Common repair and machine part. |
| Bearing | Assembler Level 1 | Iron Plate | Needed early for Pico, servers, and motors. |
| Copper Wire | Assembler Level 1 | Copper Bar | Feeds Stators and Silo computer repairs. |
| Heatsink | Assembler Level 1 | Copper Bar | Used in early repairs, motors, and the final rocket push. |
| Stator | Assembler Level 2 | Gear, Copper Wire | Your first real "why is this line hungry?" component. |
| Small Motor | Assembler Level 2 | Bearing, Stator | Feeds bigger machines and Silo repair work. |
| Heavy Duty Motor | Assembler Level 2 | Small Motor, Heatsink | Used for Silo doors and Stage 1 rocket parts. |
| Steel Beam | Assembler Level 2 | Iron Plate, Coal | A major bridge between town repair and rocket building. |
| Circuit Board | Assembler Level 2 | Logic Chip, Copper Wire | Needed for Stage 1 and later electronics chains. |
| Servo | Assembler Level 2 | Circuit Board, Small Motor | A Stage 2 and Stage 3 pain point if motors lag behind. |
| Oxygen Tank | Chemical Plant | Iron Plate, Copper Bar | Used in Stage 2 and Stage 3 rocket work. |
| Lightweight Frame | Chemical Plant | Steel Beam, Plastic Bar | Starts the late-game "feed me plastic" era. |
| Battery | Assembler Level 3 | Iron Plate, Copper Wire, Plastic Bar | Late rocket and Toasty repair demand. |
| Supercomputer | Assembler Level 3 | Circuit Board, Lightweight Frame, Battery | Final-stage electronics. Do not wait until the Silo asks to start this chain. |
Rocket and Major Repair Requirements
| Milestone | Required Items | Planning Note |
|---|---|---|
| Repair Pico | Gear x5, Bearing x15, Heatsink x4, Stator x2 | Research Stators, then make a small Gear and Copper Wire line. |
| Repair Silo West Server | Iron Plate x50, Bearing x35, Stator x20 | This is your first reason to stop hand-crafting everything. |
| Repair Silo Terminal | Copper Wire x40, Heatsink x35 | Keep Copper Bars moving. Both parts want copper. |
| Repair Silo East Server | Copper Wire x80, Bearing x40, Small Motor x10 | If Small Motors stall, check Bearings and Stators before adding another motor assembler. |
| Repair Silo Doors | Heavy Duty Motor x20 | Heavy Duty Motors need Small Motors and Heatsinks, so copper is the hidden bottleneck. After delivery, the Silo also needs 15,000W of power and its breaker on before the doors open. |
| Lighthouse Repair | Stone x1000, Steel Beam x500, Winch x4 | Build storage before delivery. This is a bulk haul, not a pocket errand. |
| Stage 1 Rocket Parts | Heavy Duty Motor x150, Steel Beam x500, Circuit Board x100 | Run Steel Beams and Heavy Duty Motors in parallel so one line does not idle all day. |
| Observatory Telescope | Steel Beam x150, Gear x300, Glass Lens x50 | Do this cleanly because Observatory research opens the next rocket tier. |
| Stage 2 Rocket Parts | Steel Beam x800, Servo x600, Oxygen Tank x450, Lightweight Frame x300 | This is where scaling matters. Servo demand points back to Circuit Boards and Small Motors. |
| Repair Toasty | Gear x4000, Lightweight Frame x1000, Servo x500, Battery x150 | Set buffers for Gear and Lightweight Frame. The numbers are not subtle. |
| Stage 3 Rocket Parts | Heatsink x6000, Servo x4000, Flow Meter x3000, Oxygen Tank x2000, Lightweight Frame x1000, Fiberglass x1000, Ceramic Plate x1000, Battery x1000, Rocket Fuel x1000, Supercomputer x500 | This is a full-town build. Make separate lanes for electronics, frames, tanks, and fuel so one jam does not freeze the whole dream. |
Fast Recovery When a Requirement Stalls
- Stand at the delivery point, usually the Silo, and write down the item that is not increasing.
- Walk back to the machine that makes that item. If its output is full, your belt or receiver is blocked. If its input is empty, the problem is upstream.
- Check the ingredient with the lowest supply. That is the bottleneck. Fix that one item first.
- Add a buffer before huge quotas, especially for Steel Beams, Servos, Lightweight Frames, Batteries, and Rocket Fuel.
- If the route crosses half of St. Ambroise, rebuild it as a short local chain near the machines that need it. A clean rebuild beats one heroic belt that tours the whole town.
For new players, the best habit is simple: do not tear down a working line until the replacement is ready. Place the new machines, feed them from storage, test one full craft cycle, then remove the old spaghetti. Morgan gets her rocket, St. Ambroise gets a cleaner factory, and you get to feel very clever without spending the whole evening chasing one missing Copper Wire.