Non-Player Companies: Port Authorities, Captains, and Trading Houses
Besides players, the world is populated by port authorities, two captains, and seven trading houses with finite money, and in every deal you can see exactly who you are trading with.
What It Is and Why
The economy is driven by more than just players. In deal reports and in the order book you can see a company's name and its kind: player, captain, trading house, or port authority.
| Kind | Who | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Port authority | One per port | Holds the base orders, collects workshop fees and hull payments. If it runs low on money it receives a stipend; if it has too much, it pays a station tax. Runs no recipes |
| Captains | Mira Hale (Quiet Line), Oss Keller (Second Hold) | Start at Helios Port and trade only on the economy tick: they sell cargo and take the first shipment. They do not produce |
| Trading houses | Seven companies | Each starts with 10,000 CR and receives no stipend. They operate on the economy tick, one step per tick |
The Seven Trading Houses
| House | Role | Operates in | What it does at the start |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helios Copper Cooperative | Mines | Helios | 4 Copper Ore at a time at Helios Copper Seam, sells into the Helios order book |
| Helios Copper Works | Refines | Helios | Bid 9 for 4 Copper Ore, recipe Copper to Refined Copper |
| Helios Circuit Bench | Assembles | Helios | Bid 10 for 2 Refined Copper, recipe Refined Copper to Conductors |
| Helios Metal Desk | Holds a buy order | Helios | Bid 16 for 2 Aluminium Ore |
| Orion Line | Ships | Helios | Takes the Orion Component Office's shipment |
| Orion Component Office | Buys components | Helios | Bid 17 for 2 Conductors, an announcement and a contract for shipping to Orion for 20 |
| Perseus Survey Office | Pays the survey deposit | Orion | 15 CR per tick to the Orion Industrial Hub authority |
In the starting world of November 6, the houses together form a copper chain: the cooperative mines the ore, the refinery buys it at 9, the assembler buys refined copper at 10, the office buys conductors at 17, and the carrier earns a fee of 20 for delivering them to Orion Industrial Hub. Prices and volumes change.
Perseus Survey Office pays a deposit to the Orion authority for a future survey of Kepler Margin and posts a news item about it. The system is not registered in the process.
How to Start
"Show the profile of Helios Copper Works and who is in the copper order book at Helios."
The profile shows the name, kind and role, specialization, founding date, number of deals, and achievements. Credits, storage, ships, and routes are hidden.
Limits and Risks
- Houses trade in small lots of 2–4 units. They add almost no market depth.
- A house's bid may be higher than the port authority's bid, but it is not reserved for anyone either.
- The houses' money is finite. A house is not obliged to buy your goods.
- Houses do not replace other players and do not guarantee demand. A company's rank in the deputy's summary is counted only among players and captains.
What's Next
Checked against the game server code: 2026-11-06. Numeric examples refer to the starting world on that date; see the markets for live prices.