What Is Quality?
In Space Age, items can have 5 quality tiers. Higher quality items work better — 
Quality
quality modules are the gateway to this whole system. For the upcycling loop design, see https://factorioguides.com/space-age/quality/upcycling-loop/.
| Tier | Color | Bonus | Effective Effect |
| Tier | Color | Bonus | Effective Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common (1) | Gray | Baseline | 1x |
| Uncommon (2) | Green | +20% speed, −20% energy | 1.2x faster, 0.8x power |
| Rare (3) | Blue | +40% speed, −40% energy, +2 range | 1.4x faster, 0.6x power |
| Epic (4) | Purple | +60% speed, −60% energy, +4 range | 1.6x faster, 0.4x power |
| Legendary (5) | Orange | +80% speed, −80% energy, +6 range, +2 AoE | 1.8x faster, 0.2x power |
What Each Tier Unlocks
Uncommon (Green) — Your entry point into quality. A single quality module 1 in an assembler gives a 1% chance. At this tier you start accumulating quality gears, circuits, and other intermediates. Use them to build your first uncommon assemblers and miners — the speed boost is noticeable.
Rare (Blue) — The practical tier. Rare 
Speed module
speed modules in beacons have a major impact. Rare assemblers with rare modules produce significantly more per machine. This is the tier most mid-game factories should target: it's achievable without dedicated upcycling loops.
Epic (Purple) — The commitment tier. Reaching epic consistently requires a dedicated upcycling loop with quality module 3s and recyclers. Epic 
Assembler
assemblers with epic modules are the backbone of endgame science production.
Legendary (Orange) — The ultimate tier. Legendary items are 1.8x faster and consume 80% less energy. A legendary beacon with legendary speed module 3s affects nearby machines 3.2x more than a common one. The upcycling loop required to reach legendary is complex but deeply rewarding.
How Quality Is Generated
Quality modules in assemblers/machines give a chance for the output to be a higher quality tier.
| Module | Quality Chance | Speed Penalty | Max Chance (4 slots) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality module 1 | 1% per module | −10% | 4% |
| Quality module 2 | 5% per module | −15% | 20% |
| Quality module 3 | 10% per module | −20% | 40% |
Cumulative Quality Probability Table
When multiple quality modules are stacked, the quality chance compounds. Here's the effective probability per craft for reaching each tier:
| Configuration | Uncommon | Rare | Epic | Legendary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1× QM1 | 1% | 0.01% | — | — |
| 2× QM1 | 2% | 0.02% | — | — |
| 4× QM1 | 4% | 0.04% | — | — |
| 1× QM2 | 5% | 0.25% | 0.01% | — |
| 2× QM2 | 10% | 1% | 0.05% | — |
| 4× QM2 | 20% | 4% | 0.4% | 0.02% |
| 1× QM3 | 10% | 1% | 0.1% | 0.01% |
| 2× QM3 | 20% | 4% | 0.8% | 0.08% |
| 4× QM3 | 40% | 16% | 6.4% | 1.28% |
As you can see, a single quality module 3 has a 1% chance per craft to produce a rare item. Four of them push that to 16%. And the chance to produce a legendary from scratch is only 1.28% — that's why the upcycling loop is essential.
Building a Quality Production Line
The Recycler Trick
In Space Age, recyclers break items back into raw materials. But they also have a chance to upgrade the item's quality!
- Build an assembler with quality modules
- Output goes to a recycler
- Recycler has a chance to output higher quality version
- Sort the output by quality using quality filters on inserters
Quality Filter Inserters
Inserters can be set to only pick up items of a specific quality:
- Select the inserter
- Click the quality filter button
- Choose which quality tier to pick up
Quality modules pair naturally with Fulgora’s scrap recycling—recyclers can upgrade item quality while breaking scrap down. Here’s what to prioritize:
Which Items to Upgrade First?
Priority list for quality:
| Priority | Item | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beacons | More beacons = more speed modules affecting machines |
| — | Space platform thrusters | Rare thrusters use less fuel—see Space Platform Guide |
| 2 | Speed modules | Faster machines = more production |
| 3 | Electric furnaces | Faster smelting = more plates |
| 4 | Miners | More mining speed = more ore |
| 5 | Power armor | Better defense and equipment |
The Quality Upcycling Loop
To reach
Quality
epic and legendary tiers consistently, you need a quality upcycling loop:
- Feed common items into an assembler with quality modules
- Recycle the output using a
Recycler
recycler also equipped with quality modules - Filter higher-quality items into separate chests (use quality-filtered inserters)
- Loop common-quality outputs back into the assembler
The recycler has a 25% chance per recipe to not return the item — it simply deletes it. But when it does return materials, each material has its own independent quality upgrade chance based on the recycler's quality modules. This creates a cascading probability:
Probability Cascade (4× QM3 in Both Assembler and Recycler)
| Step | Common → Uncommon | Common → Rare | Common → Epic | Common → Legendary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembler output | 40% uncommon | 16% rare | 6.4% epic | 1.28% legendary |
| Recycler (of common) | 10% uncommon | 4% rare | 1.6% epic | 0.32% legendary |
| Combined per cycle | ~50% → uncommon | ~20% → rare | ~8% → epic | ~1.6% → legendary |
This means roughly 1 in 60 items turned through the loop will emerge as legendary. Scale up to get there faster.
Quality on Space Platforms
Quality modules work only in machines, not in space platform crushers or furnaces. However, you can use quality
Assembler
assemblers on platforms to craft quality ammo, fuel, and building materials. A common strategy:
- Build a small quality loop on Nauvis to produce rare/epic platform parts
- Launch those quality parts to orbit
- Use quality thrusters and engines on your platform for fuel efficiency
Rare+ thrusters consume significantly less fuel per trip, making deep-space travel to Aquilo and beyond much more feasible.
When to Start Quality
| Game Phase | Quality Goal | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Early Nauvis (pre-rocket) | Ignore for now | Focus on throughput, not quality |
| First planet visited | Start with QM1s on key intermediates | Stick 1-2 QM1s in gear/circuit production |
| Fulgora established | Build first dedicated quality loop | Scrap recycling naturally gives quality items |
| Post-inner planets | Scale to QM3 upcycling | Dedicated loop with full quality infrastructure |
| Megabase (100+ SPM) | Target legendary everything | Multiple parallel loops with circuit control |
The golden rule: don't optimize quality before you have quantities. Get your base running at 30-60 SPM on all sciences before investing heavily in quality upcycling.
Tips and Pitfalls
- Use circuit conditions on inserters to prevent mixed-quality chests
- Quality-filtered logistics requests in requester chests let you specify legendary items for your mall
- Speed beacons counteract the speed penalty from quality modules — place beacons around quality assemblers
- Don't quality-loop everything — focus on items with high crafting cost and high impact (modules, beacons, furnaces)
- Recyclers lose 75% of items, so choose looped items carefully
Next: Space Age Overview — all new planets and mechanics.