Research is the permanent upgrade system in Star Trek Fleet Command. Every project you finish in the R&D Department buys a lasting bonus: harder-hitting ships, faster mining, cheaper buildings, more warp range. The full tree now spans 20 branches and more than 2,000 individual projects. This page is the map: what each research tree does, how big it is, which projects players look up most, and a link to the full guide for every tree.<\/p>\n
Research lives in the R&D Department on your station. Each project costs resources and time, and most trees gate their projects behind a building level (usually your R&D Department, sometimes Operations or another building) and one or more prerequisite projects. Once a project finishes, its bonus is permanent and always on. Research times look brutal on paper, but research speed bonuses from buildings, officers, and events cut them heavily in practice.<\/p>\n
Not every tree unlocks the same way. The eight core trees open up as your Operations level grows. The specialty trees have their own doors: Territory research runs through the Continuum Consulate, Outlaw research through the Botany Bay, Faction Favors upgrades are bought with faction hull plating, and ship skin research unlocks when you own the skin itself.<\/p>\n
These are the main branches almost every player works through. Each link goes to a full table of that tree with what every project does, its unlock level, cost to max, and research time.<\/p>\n