Installing an Economy Scanner in a starship technology slot transforms the Galaxy Map from a blind star chart into an economic ledger. Switching the map filter to Economy colors every inhabited system by its specialty industry and displays both its one-to-three-star wealth rating and its live Buy and Sell percentage modifiers without spending a single Warp Cell. Every star system manufactures up to five tiers of local trade commodities stamped with white background text at steep discounts, and imports one specific partner industry's goods at huge markups.
The three-stop and four-stop economy loops
All seven lawful economy types link into two closed trade circuits that you can run endlessly once bookmarked at Space Station teleporters. The fast three-stop loop begins in Mining systems colored red or orange, where extracted ore commodities sell for peak profit inside yellow Manufacturing economies; Manufacturing industrial parts then export cleanly to cyan High Tech systems, whose computing hardware sells right back to Mining worlds. The four-stop loop starts in green Trading or Mercantile systems, hauling luxury goods into purple Advanced Materials systems, carrying refined alloys into blue Scientific systems, shipping research gear into teal Power Generation systems, and returning energy cells back to Trading markets.
Wealth stars, price spreads, and Trading Posts
When plotting stops along either loop, filter strictly for three-star wealthy economies carrying labels such as Opulent, Booming, Affluent, or Flourishing, because wealthy terminals stock far larger quantities of high-tier trade items so a single stop fills an entire Hauler. Check the percentage numbers on the Galaxy Map tooltip before warping, aiming for a Buy modifier of minus 20 percent or better and a Sell modifier of plus 70 percent or higher. Once you arrive in a system, trigger your Economy Scanner from the Quick Menu to mark a Planetary Trading Post rather than docking at the Space Station, as planetary terminals consistently offer deeper purchase discounts and noticeably stronger sell margins on the exact same cargo.
Economy Scanner Trade Surges and Trade Rockets
For an intense burst payout, activate the Economy Scanner's Trade Surge option from your starship Quick Menu while flying in space. The scanner locates a nearby target system experiencing a multi-hour economic boom and names the exact supplier economy whose goods it craves, letting you tour five or six wealthy supplier Trading Posts and cash in tens of millions of bonus Units before the surge expires. Keep a personal Trade Rocket installed in your Exosuit for liquidating random salvage on remote planets, while reserving specialty trade commodities for their proper import destination.