The Engine Technology Lab is a research building on your station in Star Trek Fleet Command. Every time you upgrade it, it raises the Dodge value of your whole fleet and the shield health of your Interceptors. You unlock it by finishing the Unlock Technology Lab research, and it upgrades all the way to level 80. It is worth building early for the fleet-wide Dodge, with the largest jumps saved for the late-game levels.
What the Engine Technology Lab does
The Engine Technology Lab is an engine tech research facility. Its job on your station is passive: it does not produce a resource or hold cargo. Instead, each level you complete adds to two combat buffs that apply to your ships automatically, so the building pays off through better survivability in battle rather than through anything you collect.
The first buff, Dodge Bonus, increases the Dodge value of all your ships. Higher Dodge gives a ship a better chance to avoid incoming shots, which matters most against weapon-heavy opponents. The second buff, Interceptor Shield Health Bonus, adds shield health to every Interceptor you own, so your Interceptor hulls soak more damage before the shield drops. Both buffs turn on at level 1 and keep climbing to level 80.
| Buff | Active from | Value at level 1 | Level 50 | Level 80 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge Bonus (all ships) | Level 1 | 1% | 100% | 700% |
| Interceptor Shield Health Bonus | Level 1 | 3% | 150% | 1,200% |
Both values are current as of the latest game data. The early levels move in small steps, and the returns accelerate sharply in the higher bands. Dodge rises from 25% at level 25 to 100% at level 50, then to 700% by level 80. Interceptor Shield Health follows the same shape, reaching 500% at level 70 before topping out at 1,200%.
How to unlock the Engine Technology Lab
Placing the level 1 building has a single requirement: complete the Unlock Technology Lab research (rank 1). Once that research is done, you can build the lab on your station for its level 1 cost.
From level 5 onward, each upgrade is gated by two other buildings. You need your Operations and your R&D Department at the same level you are pushing the lab to, so the lab never runs ahead of those two. At levels 65 and 75 there is an added gate: your Science Lab must also reach that level before the upgrade unlocks.
Upgrade costs and build times
The table below lists milestone levels with their upgrade cost, unboosted build time, and the buildings each level requires. All values are current as of the latest game data.
| Level | Cost | Build time | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 194,670 Parsteel, 3 2★ Uncommon Refined Gas | 18s | Unlock Technology Lab research 1 |
| 5 | 195,024 Parsteel | 6m | Operations 5, R&D Department 5 |
| 10 | 198,696 Parsteel | 50m | Operations 10, R&D Department 10 |
| 20 | 310,216 Parsteel, 2,125 Dilithium | 13h 55m | Operations 20, R&D Department 20 |
| 30 | 10.61M Parsteel, 45 3★ Uncommon Refined Gas, 195,000 Dilithium | 1d 11h | Operations 30, R&D Department 30 |
| 40 | 2.292B Parsteel, 15.05M Dilithium, 10,000 4★ Common Refined Gas, 3,000 4★ Uncommon Refined Gas | 24d 5h | Operations 40, R&D Department 40 |
| 50 | 99.96B Parsteel, 918.8M Dilithium | 415d 1h | Operations 50, R&D Department 50 |
| 60 | 32.15T Parsteel, 123.1B Dilithium, 15,300 5★ Rare Refined Gas, 78,300 5★ Uncommon Refined Gas | 874d 10h | Operations 60, R&D Department 60 |
| 70 | 21.58M Σ-Parsteel, 396,625 Σ-Dilithium, 696,000 6★ Common Refined Gas, 626,400 6★ Common Refined Ore | 230d 15h | Operations 70, R&D Department 70 |
| 80 | 10.53B Σ-Parsteel, 48.41M Σ-Dilithium, 9.946M 7★ Common Refined Gas, 8.952M 7★ Common Refined Ore | 5567d 8h | Operations 80, R&D Department 80 |
Taken from level 1 to level 80, the lab costs 91.34T Parsteel and 345.4B Dilithium plus large amounts of refined gas, refined ore, and the Sigma resources (Σ-Parsteel and Σ-Dilithium) that come into play at the top levels. The cumulative build time is 30,499 days and 1 hour unboosted, so speedups, build-cost research, and any station build-speed bonuses do most of the real work at the high end.
How the Engine Technology Lab fits your station
The lab is one of the few buildings that raises Dodge across your entire fleet, so it earns a spot in your early build order. The first levels cost a few hundred thousand Parsteel and finish in minutes, which makes them an easy source of a fleet-wide defensive stat while you are still growing.
The Interceptor Shield Health buff points the building at Interceptor crews. If you lean on Interceptors for mining defense, hostile grinding, or PvP, the lab compounds with your other Interceptor bonuses and keeps those hulls alive longer.
Pacing follows Operations and the R&D Department, since both gate every level from 5 up. There is no reason to stockpile for a level the lab cannot reach yet, so let those two lead and bring the lab up behind them. Past level 40 the Parsteel and Dilithium bills climb into the billions and the timers stretch into weeks, then years, which is where the Sigma resources and your speedup stockpile decide how fast you finish.
Is the Engine Technology Lab worth upgrading?
Yes, especially early and mid-game. Fleet-wide Dodge is a strong defensive stat, and the low levels deliver it cheaply and quickly. The extra Interceptor Shield Health adds value if Interceptors carry your combat load. The very top levels ask for enormous resource and time investments, so treat 65 through 80 as a long-term project you chip away at rather than a rush, and prioritize the buildings that gate it first.