A fleet needs to refuel to restore its range after depleting it through travel. There are three ways to refuel a fleet.

When possible, fleets automatically refuel at colonies. The colony must have sufficient Uranium, and it must either be owned by yourself, or the owner has set a refueling price that does not exceed the maximum you have configured for your fleet. By default, colonies do not refuel foreign fleets and fleets refuse to pay. This can be changed at a colony's trade screen or a fleet's orders page respectively.

If you want to refuel a fleet in space, you will need to use a refueling station or bring your own Uranium. A Trade Outpost will hold the Uranium, and a fleet can rendezvous with it and refuel for at the asking price. The faster/bigger your fleet, the more it will cost to refuel. Fleets carrying Uranium can use the refuel mission to either refuel themselves or another fleet.


Fighters, Bombers, and Gunboats may only refuel at colonies or trade outposts.

A fleet with less than half of its total range will recharge slowly while at local coordinates. Solar refuel is not possible in open space, orbits or at colonies.