Astroneer Megatech Update Patch Notes: DLC, Free Features, and Known Issues

The Astroneer Megatech Update adds large-scale construction, automation, logistics, and base navigation changes. Its content is split between a paid DLC and a free update, so every player receives some new systems even without buying the expansion.

Megatech Update Overview

The paid Megatech DLC costs $9.99 and adds three major megastructures: the Orbital Platform, Biodome, and Museum. Each one expands base building or long-term progression in a different direction.

The free update adds the Intermodal Terminal, Distribution Launch System, new utility items, UI changes, and several platform improvements. It also includes new missions that introduce free megastructure construction and interplanetary shipping. Together, the paid and free portions push Astroneer toward larger automated bases: building sites can be launched remotely, cargo can move between planets by shuttle and rail, and farms or collections can be turned into repeatable reward systems.

Megatech also changes the day-to-day toolset. Tethers can be placed automatically, Walkways can carry oxygen and power through awkward terrain, and larger canisters reduce the amount of storage juggling needed around advanced bases. The update is not just about huge structures. It also tries to make the routes between them less messy, especially across mature multi-planet saves.

Below are the rewritten patch notes for the November 20, 2025 Megatech update.

Paid DLC Megastructures

The next three megastructures require the Megatech DLC.

Orbital Platform

The Orbital Platform is a space-based science and observation platform from the Vastar Infrastructure Research Institute. It can be launched into orbit around a planet and gives players a wide ring-shaped build area with a MEGA-Mini Asteroid in the center.

Only one Orbital Platform is available, so its placement matters. It is not easy to move later.

Key features include:

• Gravity: Gravity remains consistent across the top of the platform, including the asteroid. Falling off the edge drops the player into space, but they are recovered and returned to the platform.
• Power and oxygen: Oxygen is provided by the platform, so tethers are unnecessary. Power must still be supplied, with cable ports distributed around the structure.
• Megaception: Some other megastructures can be built on the Orbital Platform ring, subject to placement limits and one-per-planet restrictions.
• Orbital relocation: Astronium can be spent as fuel to move the platform into orbit around another planet.
• MEGA-Mini Asteroid: The center asteroid is made of pure soil and can be reshaped infinitely into several forms, including two asteroid variants, a sphere, donut, flat platform, Resin, and Compound.
• Upgrade stages: Stage 2 adds a Megastructure Component Printer. Stage 3 unlocks free flight on the Orbital Platform, even in Adventure Mode.
• Megastructure Component Printer: A Stage 2 platform can print Construction Anchor Landing Pads and the Mega-Terrain Platform module.

Orbital Platform Mega-Modules

• Mega-Terrain Platforms: These attach to the Orbital Platform edge or to another Mega-Terrain Platform, extending the ring with flat terrain platforms.

Biodome

The Biodome is a controlled planting and harvesting megastructure. It automates plant care and can provide planetary buffs. Only one Biodome can exist per planet.

Features include:

• Seed harvest: Biodome plants usually produce Seeds rather than Organic. Hazardous plants, LTE Plants, and Fractal Roses are excluded. Plants need more attention than wild growth, but yields are stronger. Seeds also feed into one of the Museum Donation Station reward tracks.
• Rare drops: Newly added seeds can occasionally produce extra rare items when harvested in the Biodome.
• Upgrade stages: Stage 2 adds the Mega-Grow Lamp, which improves plant growth rate. Stage 3 adds a Megastructure Component Printer.
• Megastructure Component Printer: A Stage 3 Biodome can print Biodome-specific Mega Modules.

Biodome Mega-Modules

• Auto-Planter: Plants seeds in the Biodome from attached canisters.
• Auto-Fertilizer: Periodically applies Organic as fertilizer. Fertilized plants remain fully grown longer.
• Auto-Harvester: Harvests plants automatically and prioritizes fully grown plants. Harvested items fill attached storage canisters when possible.
• Biodome Expansion: Adds planting space and another Mega Module slot. Up to five expansions can be installed.
• Resource Pod: Allows canisters to be installed on the Biodome for planting, harvesting, and storage automation.
• Mega Oxygenator: Applies a planet-wide buff that slows suffocation.

Museum

The Museum rewards donations and collections. It accepts resource nuggets, power, bytes, and seeds. Its upgraded form also lets Astroneers display themed item collections for additional perks. Only one Museum can be placed. This gives long-term saves a use for surplus materials and collectibles that otherwise tend to sit in storage until someone decides the base needs another very specific pile.

Museum systems include:

• Donation Stations: Spare Research Bytes, Power, Resources, and Seeds can be donated to unlock rewards. Holographic displays grow as progress is made.
• Donation Perks: Final milestones activate buffs. Each active perk consumes 5 U/s, and underpowered perks scale down in strength.
• Research Bytes donation perk: Improves Backpack power recharge speed.
• Power donation perk: Improves Backpack power capacity.
• Resources donation perk: Improves Terrain Tool drill speed.
• Seeds donation perk: Improves Backpack oxygen tank capacity.
• Collection Perks: Full themed collections placed in Display Case Platforms unlock perks. Each active perk uses 5 U/s and loses effectiveness when underpowered. A Display Case Platform can hold only one collection type at a time.
• LRD collection: Improves soil use efficiency.
• Composite Resources collection: Improves effectiveness against hard terrain.
• Hazardous and Harvestable Seeds collection: Improves run speed.
• Mutant Plant Seeds collection: Improves jump height.
• Galastropod Shells collection: Improves rover speed.
• Medium Research Items collection: Improves research speed.
• Chess Pieces collection: Improves print speed.
• Upgrade stages: Stage 2 unlocks themed collection displays and their perks.
• Megastructure Component Printer: A Stage 2 Museum can print Museum Mega-Modules.

Museum Mega-Modules

• Display Case Platform: Connects to the Museum with Walkways and holds matching collection items. Full collections can have their perks toggled on or off.
• Display Cases: Small and medium cases provide slots for displaying curios, collectibles, and oddities.

Megatech DLC Rewards

Each paid megastructure has a mission line and reward path.

• Orbital Platform: Launching the Stage 1 package rewards the Cosmopolitan palette.
• Biodome: Harvesting the first plant on a Stage 2 Biodome rewards the Under the Sun hat. Completing the mission line also unlocks the Melodic Mushroom, which plays a tone when activated or bumped.
• Museum: Completing the final milestone for all four Donation Stations rewards the Tableau visor.
• All Megatech Missions: Completing every Megatech mission rewards the Haywire mask.

Deluxe Edition Cosmetics

The Astroneer: Megatech - Deluxe Cosmetic Pack includes:

• Jewel Case Palette
• En-Ambered Visor
• Gear Shift Mask, with rotating gears

Free Megatech Update

All Astroneer players receive the initial Megatech missions. These introduce the Distribution Launch System and continue into the mission chain for building the Intermodal Terminal.

Free Megastructures

Intermodal Terminal

The Intermodal Terminal is an interplanetary cargo facility. It transfers cargo from trains to automated shuttles, making resource movement between planets possible without constant manual piloting. Only one can exist per planet, including on the Orbital Platform.

Features include:

• Landing Pads: Pads A, B, and C each have a control panel for shuttle Loading Mode, Automation Mode, and Destination. A shuttle leaving one lettered pad lands on another pad with the same letter.
• Integrated Rail Stations: Each pad has its own rail with automation controls for loading and unloading. Resources move directly without auto-arms until available space is filled.
• Fueling: Each pad includes a Large Fluid and Soil Canister slot for Hydrazine used by shuttle Hydrazine Thrusters.

Distribution Launch System

The Distribution Launch System, or DLS, builds other megastructures by launching Construction Anchors to chosen locations. Only one DLS is available, so placement should be chosen carefully.

Features include:

• Construction Anchors: Deployable megastructure kits launched from the DLS to construction sites across the system. When deployed, they unfold into Mega-Printer Platforms.
• Mega-Printer Platform: Holds resource canisters for drone construction. Mega-Printer Drones begin only after all required resources are supplied.
• Megastructure Component Printer: The DLS includes its own printer for Construction Anchor Landing Pads.
• Construction Anchor Landing Pad: A destination pad placed at the desired build site. Activating it calls a Construction Anchor from the DLS.

Free Update Rewards

Completing the free Megatech mission lines grants these rewards:

• DLS: Completing the DLS missions rewards the Pardon Our Dust hat.
• Intermodal Terminal: Completing its missions unlocks plans for the Mega-Mini Training Shuttle, a personal shuttle that uses less fuel but has no cargo capacity.
• Mega-Deconstructor: Unlocked after printing the DLS. It destroys megastructures and Mega-Printer Platforms, but resources are not refunded.

New Base Game Items

The following research-unlocked items were added to the base game:

• Tether Dropper: Automatically deploys tethers from storage slots at regular intervals.
• Icon Sign: A small drillable item with nearly 30 selectable icons.
• Large Gas Canister: Stores a large amount of gas.
• Large Fluid and Soil Canister: Stores a large amount of fluid or soil.
• Walkways: Create and extend routes that transmit power and oxygen. They can tunnel through terrain like rail posts.
• New decorations: Seven decorative items were added: Snow Globe, Ship in a Bottle, Model Planet, Robo Bonsai, Lava Lamp, Helmet Lava Lamp, and Simulated Aquarium. The Model Planet can cycle through the seven planets except Aeoluz. The Lava Lamp and Helmet Lava Lamp can cycle through yellow, green, and magenta effects. The Simulated Aquarium includes Robo Fish and needs no water.

New Features and Changes

The base game also received these changes:

• New plantable plants: Seven plants were added and work especially well with the Biodome, though they can also be planted normally. The list includes Nubcap from Glacio, Arctichoke from Glacio, Bubbulb from Desolo, Dewtrunk from Atrox, Conepod from Calidor, Hornstalk from Vesania, and Finwheel from Sylva.
• Encumbrance movement: Walking speed while carrying large objects has increased.
• Canister support: EXO Chips and Seeds can now be stored in Resource Canisters.
• Train station controls: Train stations can pull items from trains based on size tier.

UI Changes

The main menu received a small layout update. The Quit button moved to a separate panel on the right side of the screen. That panel now has two tabs: one for the News Widget and one for listing players in the current session.

PS5 Port

The official PS5 version of Astroneer is now available. It includes:

• 4K resolution and HDR display support
• Higher framerate support at 60 FPS
• Advanced Haptics, Lightbar support, and controller audio interactions

PS4 to PS5 Upgrade

Players who own the PS4 version can upgrade to the PS5 version for free. The upgrade is optional rather than automatic. After upgrading, PS4 save files can be imported from the Saved Games menu by selecting Import PS4 Console Save.

The only exception is Japan, where local regulations affect the upgrade path.

Engine Upgrade

Astroneer also received an engine upgrade. The update is part of keeping feature parity across supported platforms. Not glamorous, but necessary plumbing rarely is.

Known Issues

The developers identified the following issues for future fixes.

Orbital Platform

• Rail Posts and Walkways do not connect correctly on the Orbital Platform ring. They work on the MEGA-Mini Asteroid and Mega-Terrain Platforms.
• Items that fall from the platform and teleport back may remain floating and hidden.
• Large groups of teleported items can become stuck inside each other.
• Saving while flying on a Stage 3 Orbital Platform can cause the player to fall after reloading. Entering and exiting a vehicle or dying can reset the issue.

Museum

• Seed collections do not currently register correctly in Museum Display Cases, so their collection perks cannot be used.

Creative Mode

• The DLS Construction Anchor is missing from the Creative Mode catalog.
• The Melodic Mushroom appears in the Creative Mode catalog even without Megatech DLC ownership. It is intended to be a DLC reward and will be adjusted later.

Rewards

• The Pardon Our Dust hat from the DLS missions is unavailable at launch. It will be enabled in a later patch and awarded retroactively to players who completed the required missions.

Miscellaneous

• The Icon Sign does not appear in Small Printer recipes after being unlocked.
• Most megastructures and their components can unintentionally be destroyed with Dynamite, which may permanently damage the Orbital Platform or soft lock DLS rebuilding.

Emerging Issues

After launch, three additional priority issues were identified:

• Multiplayer crashes can occur when players are close together and pull out the Terrain Tool.
• Walkways may lack collision detection, preventing players from walking on them.
• Some Xbox players see the game partially greyed out. Turning off HDR may resolve it.